Venemous
by Lyri146
Summary: Part 3 of Another Chance. After patrol one evening Peter starts to feel unwell and behave strangely. Can the team figure out what's wrong with their youngest member before any permanent damage is done? There is a recap in the first chapter for anyone who hasn't read the previous two instalments. Spideypool, Stony, Wanda/Vision, Bruce/Natasha
1. Deadpool Recaps

**Deadpool Recaps**

Yo! It's the merc with the mouth here people, picking up the author's slack once again. This time though I've got to recap everything that's happened over the past two instalments just in case you feel like being lazy and not going back over the stories. Or you've not actually _read_ them yet, which is just rude by the way, and you're not sure if you can be bothered so at least this way you can start this instalment knowing what's gone on.

Laziness in the extreme people! But hey it gives me a job and she's promised to give me some extra time with the awesome piece of ass that is my Baby Boy. But I've got to be quick because I'm supposed to be off on a job, so here goes. Grab your popcorn, get comfy and make sure you're buckled in because this is going to be lightning quick! So:

We start with old Tin Can feeling sorry for himself and missing his old buddy slash secret crush he never told anyone about Captain America, aka America's Ass, and having done some sneaky spy shit that would have made Widow proud to get a copy of the altered Sokovian Accords to our dear Captain for him to look at. He breaks poor Tin Can's heart because he can't believe that Tin Can would do all of this work alone, but agrees for everyone to come back in pairs or singly so that there's not as much backlash from the evil government people (spoiler alert: Ross is evil! But let's be honest we knew that anyway.)

Anyway people coming back, everyone happy, yadda yadda yadda, wow she really did waste chapters on unimportant people didn't she? Next important thing: Baby Boy's entry into the story! So Spidey is caught up in a hostage situation which the team are called in to help, he gets used as a bargaining chip by the leader of the group (and no he definitely didn't turn up in his cell with a huge hole blown in his head…I have no idea what you're implying. Honestly you fuckers really need to be careful where you're pointing fingers, he already had a huge hole in his head when I found him!). Where was I? Oh yeah! Spidey gets saved by Wanda and Tin Can and then helps the team kick ass (of course because he's so wonderful why would you doubt this?) and then bonding time with Tin Can… skip to the next important party: ENTER ME! (He says in parenthesis. Don't be shocked when the history book mentions me…. What? I like Hamilton alright? That show rocks!)

So….yeah I now enter the story and I help Spideykins feel better about himself because he's beating himself up over the fact he couldn't save everyone because he's such a wonderful hero and probably one of the best people on this entire planet- wait hang on I got a message! "Stop fanboy-ing over Peter and get back to the recap, you've still got fifty chapters to go." Well fuck you author, I wouldn't have to do it if you pulled your finger out and did it yourself! Don't like the way I do it. Don't ask me.

Ugh anyway, back to the boring part of the story. Oh wait no this part was actually quite interesting. So Winter Soldier comes back to America, they help him break the brainwashing, and he and Tony become really close and- as we find out later- our wonderful Barnes actually made a move on Tony! I know proper soap opera stuff right? But Tin Can being Tin Can tells him he can't be with him because he's in love with Cap. And honestly when did this turn into a teenage romance story? So yeah, bit of a love triangle between Tin Can and the Super Soldier Twins (not to be confused with the Super Spy Twins people), and then Barnes is able to prove his brainwashing is broken and the rest of the team arrive back in America. Oh and Tin Can goes badass taking on Ross when he tries to arrest Cap.

So what's the next important bit? Not that, not that, that was a waste of a chapter… eh I suppose Petey-Pie meeting the rest of the team is kind of important, but did we ever doubt everyone would love him? I mean just look at those eyes people! They're two orbs of absolute fucking perfection, and don't even get me started on how hard it is to say 'no' when he turns on the puppy-dog eyes. Genuinely consider shooting myself rather than say no to those. They're like weapons of mass destruction, or at least manipulation. I still say when Thanos arrives we just get him to go and give him the puppy-dog eyes and ask nicely to stop trying to wipe out half the universe and it'll work.

Right, right, back to the story. Oh boy…I really fucking hate this next bit. So Petey-Pie lets me join him on patrol and we get into a pretty shit situation when someone threatens to unmask him and, of course, at this point I don't know who he is or what he looks like, and this fucker has a gun pressed to the back of his head. So I shoot the bastard before he can pull Spidey's mask off and, well Spidey doesn't take it too well and he basically tells me to fuck off and not speak to him again. Not my best moment, so I may have killed the rest of the gang we were following. And then there's more angst in the form of Cap realising just how much he's hurt Tony in the past with the whole Civil War shenanigans; so he's feeling guilty, I'm feeling guilty, Tin Can is feeling crap and Peter's feeling like crap.

But! Tin Can and Cap have a heart-to-heart and start to make up properly, Petey gets detention and finds out that Tin Can gets informed and is feeling pretty crappy when I turn up and we make up and become friends again as well. So all starts being sunshine and unicorns once more.

Then we find out how much of a parent Tin Can actually is, Petey is a wonderful human being and stands up for me to the team when they want to run me out of New York, oh yeah and the team find out that Tin Can has hydrophobia and then decide to intervene and help out their resident genius, who isn't really much of a genius because he's been neglecting his physical and mental health. More bonding, yadda yadda, Daredevil does some threatening, more bonding, Ross threatens the team (as per usual), did anyone notice it took the author fucking ages to work out how to spell 'Sergeant' by the way? Fucking hilarious!

Seriously could she not have condensed some of this shit? We're barely halfway through! And barely any of this shit has me in it! Don't you lot try and defend her either, you all agree there should have been more Deadpool goodness in these chapters. Oh yeah here's an interesting moment (though only because it's a return to the love triangle): Cap and Tin Can have an argument and Barnes goes to comfort Tin Can, then nearly knocks Cap out and takes him outside to talk some sense into him.

More bonding, Petey finds out who Daredevil is (and doesn't tell me!), more bonding, fuck why couldn't me and Petey have had this much bonding time? Fucking author and her setting up the Stony action…seriously I should go on strike.

And finally- literally _finally_, like _half-way through_ the fucking action takes off. I mean yeah yeah I know, set up and all that shit and there's been hints and things through the whole thing on where the whole fucking _series _is going that you dip shits probably missed (haha got you going back and looking through now haven't I?).

So Ant-Man turns up at the facility, beaten up to shit, and tells Tin Can that Justin Hammer is after him, previously mentioned jackass then gives Tin Can a call the next morning, taunts him does general stereotypical evil villain things, threatens my Baby Boy (so you know the fuckers going down right?), and then reveals he's working with – drum roll please! – HYDRA. Bet you didn't see that coming did you? You did? Yeah don't blame you, pretty fucking easy to call right? Authors these days really need some originality.

Bonding time between me and Baby Boy! And he asks for my number (insert love hearts over eyes here). Just give me a second to re-read this a couple of times yeah? This is like my favourite part!

_*Two hours later*_

Right sorry back in the room.

Tin Can and Cap start having another argument (go figure right? Seriously those two should have started banging _way_ earlier than they did). Tin Can gets a message from Hammer threatening Peter at school so the whole team assembles (see what I did there?) and goes to save the perfection that is Peter Parker.

Hammer attacks Petey's school, he calls me in to help (and I see his face! Oh my, beautiful doesn't even cover it. I can tell you there was many a sleepless night after that little reveal), and then I save him and Tin Can so that they can get back to facility. Unfortunately _they_ start having an argument, really Tin Can was obviously in a bad mood that day (needed a shag…just saying!) and then HYDRA attacks and, you guessed it, he gives himself up to save Petey-Pie. So team starts looking for Tin Can with no luck, and Petey-Pie decides to call in favours from yours truly (and really let's be honest I'd do anything for that ass) and from the walking Hallowe'en costume (Daredevil in case you didn't get it) to try and find out something. And yep you guessed it, we manage to find out everything quicker than the team.

Oh but before we get to the rescue of Tin Can…. I GET A DATE WITH SPIDER-MAN! Yes people, before we rescue Tin Can we have the most important chapter of the whole story: Peter and I actually start dating.

I'm quite offended at the lack of cheering and celebration. Fuck you.

Fine I'll continue with the story. Hammer reveals to the team he put the arc reactor back in Tin Can's chest, and the genius manages to get a message to Widow about where he's being kept. We save Tin Can. Tin Can and Cap _finally_ get together (like _everyone_ in the team saw that one coming – they were surprised at the lack of surprise. Which is just sad really).

More bonding, Peter comes to find me at Sister Margarets and kicks ass because he's just that goddamn awesome and sexy, Wanda (his adopted super-sister) finds out about our relationship and is surprisingly okay about it. Tin Can works out Ross is linked to Hammer and HYDRA (I mean _duh!_), and starts to make some mysterious phone calls; Peter is about to tell Tin Can about our relationship but is interrupted by Thor, Loki and Banner arriving on Earth and we learn all about Cable- sorry Thanos! – wanting to destroy half the universe.

The team agree to help Thor by keeping what is left of Asgard (and by the way…Heimdall was supposed to be able to see everything in the universe right? But he misses the giant ass spaceship filled with aliens wanting to kill them? Right…plot hole alert! Or stupid motherfucker alert!). Now where was I? Oh yes Asgard staying here, Loki staying here and being given a second chance (third chance? Fourth chance? Another chance). People find out about mine and Petey's relationship when I turn up at the facility after getting a call to come help with the end of the world, and it goes about as well as you would expect. Oh and we find out that Tin Can was talking to… another drumroll please…Nicholas J. Fury!

Talk about changing Accords and getting Avengers free of government control, planning for Thanos, meeting Strange, more planning, getting Hawkeye and Ant-Man over, Peter being bad-ass and knocking out Hawk, Barnes more interested in Petey's love life than the end of the world, bonding. More bonding. More hints at what's coming up in the series, wow they're really not that subtle are they? Stony action. Thor and Valkyrie leave.

Epilogue! With evil villain discussions hinting at what's coming next (including one familiar fucker's face I'm personally hoping I run into so I can rip it off).

Then the first special! Which is basically a week in Spider-Man's life, but he's got members of the team joining him as a semi-interview for the super-hero squad. About the most important thing that happens is that Petey and I get stalked by a mysterious shadow at my apartment.

And that you charming fuckers is a quick rundown of the two stories. Now you should know enough to be able to read this story if you haven't read the others (or not. Honestly I don't give a shit, I've just done this to get more screen time…page time. Whatever) or you've had a recap if you have read the others.

Oh shit I'm late for my job!

Laters!


	2. Migraine

**Chapter 1 – Migraine**

After a week of having someone with him on every patrol Peter has to admit he's bored tonight. Wade's off on a job from Weasel so he's not even got the possibility of his boyfriend turning up.

And all the criminals seem to have decided this was the evening to stay in and become couch potatoes.

'I'm bored!' he moans to Karen, falling to sit on the side of a building and kicking his legs out over the alley below him. 'Why is there nothing going on Karen?'

'Would it make you feel better if I said it's probably because you've been doing such a good job at lowering the crime rate?' his AI asks.

'No,' he huffs; there's a disturbance in the alley below has him looking down. 'Is it bad that I'm so bored I'm actually going to go make sure that's a cat?'

'I'd say it's sensible that you're making sure there's not something dangerous that could hunt down innocent civilians,' Karen tries to reassure him.

'Thanks, Karen,' he laughs, then drops down. 'You picking up anything?'

'Signs of life over by the dumpster,' she replies.

He sighs and walks over. 'Here kitty, kitty. You're not going to try and eat people are you? Just checking seeing as I have nothing better to do.' He squats down and looks in the gap between two dumpsters. 'Woah! What the-' he falls back as something appears to leap out from the gap at him, swirling around his head before disappearing. 'What was that?'

Peter turns to look into the alley but it's empty.

'Karen what was that?'

'There's nothing else in this alley, Peter,' she replies, 'except for the life form between the two dumpsters.'

'There's still something in there?' he turns back, just in time to see a cat leap at his face. 'Gah!' he pushes the small furry body away as claws threaten to break through his mask, and the ginger cat scampers off down the alleyway, disappearing round the corner.

'Now there are no other life forms in the alley,' Karen supplies.

'Yeah wonderful,' he grumbles. 'That's it I'm going home.' He pulls himself up the side of the alleyway back onto the rooftop. 'Ugh I think I need an early night,' he says as he reaches the top.

'Are you alright, Peter?' Karen asks him, tone concerned.

'Yeah just felt a bit dizzy when I got to the top,' he waves off her concern, 'must just be because I did so many patrols this week.' He heads off over the rooftops back towards home, suddenly feeling very tired.

* * *

'Pete you alright? You've been quiet all day,' Ned asks as they sit down to lunch.

'Fine, Ned, I just didn't sleep well last night and I'm a bit tired,' he sighs, trying not to get annoyed at his best friend's concern.

'You sure? Cause your eyes are looking really bloodshot. Maybe you should go to the nurse?'

'I can't go to the nurse, Ned, you know why,' he huffs.

'Maybe call Tony Stark then? I've not known you get sick since, you know, you got your internship.'

'I'm fine, Ned, I just have a headache and I'm tired.'

'Maybe you should call him, Peter,' MJ says from her place next to Ned. 'If it is the first time you've been ill since the internship.'

'I said I'm fine!' he snaps, pushing away from the table without touching his food. 'I'm going for a walk outside, get some fresh air. I'll see you in class.'

'Peter!' he ignores his friends' shouts and storms out of the doors, heading for outside. His senses are on overload and it feels like his head is about to explode.

_They need to learn not to stick their noses in where they don't belong_.

_Where did_ that_ come from?_ He wonders, blinking as he steps outside. _I must be feeling worse than I thought. Maybe I should call Tony._

_No. Get some sleep tonight and it'll all be fine tomorrow._

Still unsure he takes out his phone, scrolling through the contacts until he comes to Tony's name; finger hovering over the screen he debates about phoning his mentor. Peter hasn't felt like this since he first got his powers, when fever wracked his body and he honestly thought his head would burst from the sensory overload, gradually though he'd become accustomed to it.

He groans as he hears the bell ring. _I'll phone him tomorrow if I don't feel any better,_ he decides, putting the phone back in his pocket and heading back inside, _and just won't go out on patrol tonight. I need to apologies to Ned and MJ when I see them._

_ Though they shouldn't keep pushing things when I tell them to leave it,_ that other line of thinking pipes up as he walks through the main school doors.

* * *

Inky blackness all around him, almost choking in how thick it is. Peter twists and turns, struggling to move his arms and legs through the thick, whatever the hell this darkness was. He opens his mouth to shout but feels like he's drowning.

_Calm down, Peter, it'll all be over soon,_ he hears a voice say from somewhere.

'What?' he sits bolt upright, blinking in confusion. His covers fall to a clump in his lap and he presses a hand to his eye with a groan. He didn't remember falling asleep.

His phone continues to ring on his bedside cabinet, it being the sound that had pulled him from his dream.

'Ugh, hello?' he grumbles, wincing at the pain in his head.

'Woah you alright Baby Boy? You sound like you got the biggest fucker of a hangover ever. Stark not been letting you at his booze cabinet has he?'

'Wade,' a small smile creeps onto Peter's lips despite his headache, 'when did you get back from your job?'

'About an hour ago, checked in with Weasel first in case you were up to something after school. You alright?'

'Yeah, headache,' he mumbles, 'really bad one. Was asleep when you phoned.'

'Ah shit, sorry.'

'Don't matter, glad to hear you're still in one piece.'

Wade chuckles. 'You miss me, Petey-Pie?'

'Not when I'm feeling like crap, Wade, you know I don't like that nickname.'

'Sorry.'

'No you're not.'

Wade laughs quietly. 'No you're right I'm really not. You get many of these headaches since you got your powers, Baby Boy?'

'Not since the spider bite,' he replies, closing his eyes and lying back down, 'had the mother of all migraines when I had the fever, but since then I've been a clean bill of health. Could be something that only happens once every couple of years though, it's not like I've had them all that long.'

'Hmm… you told Tin Can?'

'Didn't want to worry him, it only started today,' Peter admits, 'plus I did do a lot more patrols last week than normal so it could just be I'm a bit tired. I'll let him know if it's still the same tomorrow though.' He ignores the flare of irritation at that thought, not entirely sure where it came from. 'Feel really weird with it though,' he adds.

'How do you mean?' Wade's voice is suddenly serious.

'Like really irritable,' he explains, 'I snapped at Ned and MJ earlier.'

Wade's quiet for a few moments. 'Did anything happen on patrol on Sunday, Baby Boy?'

'No it was so quiet it was boring. Most exciting thing that happened was a cat jump out at me from a dumpster.'

Wade snorts. 'Spider-Man taken out by a kitten.'

'Shut up,' Peter frowns. 'Why do you ask?'

'Had the HYDRA guys stop by the bar again, seems like their desperate to find something. Just wondered if you'd perhaps come across something linked to it and that might be what's affecting your mood. But if not then I'd say it's just your headache turning you into a hormonal teenage girl on her time of the month.'

'Really, Wade?'

'Jokes don't stop just because you don't feel well Spideykins.'

'Well if you're going to continue being your usual charming, pain the arse self, I'm going back to sleep.'

'Get better soon, Baby Boy,' Wade's voice is soft again, 'need you back out on patrol.'

'Just stay out of trouble, Wade,' he smiles. 'I'll speak to you tomorrow.'

'Easy when I don't have to look after you,' the man teases. 'I…'

'Wade?'

'I missed you, Baby Boy. Speak to you tomorrow.'

'Yeah speak to you tomorrow,' he says and hangs up, trying to fight back the wave of disappointment at the feeling that Wade was going to say something else.

* * *

_Peter_.

Peter sits up, all senses on alert despite the lingering fuzziness in his head. It's the middle of the night, but his night vision is good enough that it doesn't hinder him much. The pain in his head is gone, just leaving him with the fuzziness.

There's no one in the room but he knows someone said his name.

'Who's there?' he asks.

_I'm here._ It's a voice in his head.

'What? Who are you? Oh god I'm hearing voices, I've actually lost it.'

_No you are not insane,_ the voice replies, a slight lingering on the 's' sounds. _I'm here inside you, I'll help look after you. All you have to do is trust me, Peter. Together we can be the most powerful being on this world._

'Why would I want to do that?' he asks.

_To protect ourselves,_ the voice reassures him, _to protect those close to you. To protect them from the threat coming closer. From Thanos._

'You know Thanos?' he asks.

_I have not met him, but you know of him, _the voice replies.

'How does that mean you know him? Peter asks, confused.

_I know what you know,_ comes the response, _we are one now Peter._

'Who are you? Where did you come from? I don't even know your name.'

_I have no name you'd be able to comprehend._

Peter feels exhaustion gripping his limbs and he sinks back down onto the bed. Just as he drifts off he mumbles, 'I'll think of a name for you in the morning.'

* * *

_A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to the next instalment in 'Another Chance', I hope you enjoy this one as much as the others. Do let me know what you think I do love reading your reviews, and some of the suggestions from them have given me such good ideas for later in the series as well. _

_Just to warn you that this instalment is going to be a little darker than the other two, I will put trigger warnings at the beginning of chapters if I feel it's appropriate for that one and then place a synopsis of the chapter at the end for anyone who feels they need to skip the chapter._

_I haven't seen Far From Home yet, and this entire instalment has already been written, so do bear that in mind whilst you're reading this._

_Also I hope you enjoyed Deadpool's recap in the last chapter. I'm not sure I'll be letting him do it again..._

_Love to you all, and hope you enjoy this story!_

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek:_

'A TV show?' she raises an eyebrow. 'I didn't realise Bucky had perfected using the TV yet, let alone Loki.'

'Hey! I can operate a TV just fine thank you!' it appears the soldier heard her comment. 'Don't put me in the same category as Steve.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' the blond demands, frowning at his childhood friend.

'Steve when you first got a laptop you tried to search on the internet by talking to it,' Tony sighs.


	3. Science Triplets

**Chapter 2 – Science Triplets**

'What the hell happened to you?' Tony asks as Steve enters the workshop; he's been given an override code after he had to get FRIDAY to let him in to carry the inventor up to bed after he fell asleep at his workbench and he'd 'complained' about it for an hour.

'Bucky got me during training,' he replies, fingers going up to gingerly touch the black eye he's sporting. 'I may have said something he wasn't too happy with so he socked me one and I didn't dodge in time.'

'What did you say to Bucky to make him give you a black eye?' Tony's eyes go wide.

Steve sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. 'Well, I may have made some hints about him and Loki and he didn't appreciate it.'

The inventor blinks a couple of times, then bursts out laughing. 'You're not going to tell me are you?'

He grins and walks over to put his arms around the other man. 'Nope, sorry honey. I don't need you getting a black eye as well. What are you working on?'

'Peter's new upgrade,' he admits with a sheepish smile.

'Another one? How many have you done now? The rest of us are going to start feeling left out,' he jokes, pressing a kiss to the side of the man's head as he turns in his arms back to his screen.

'Well,' Tony shifts slightly in his arms and Steve pulls back enough to look at him properly, 'technically I'm using his one as the test run for everyone else.'

'What are you cooking up in that mind of yours now?'

Tony pulls one of the screens closer to them and shows Steve his project. 'It's basically made and waiting for him, but I'm tweaking some of the functions and then I'll give it to him when the time's right. I'm calling it the Iron Spider.'

'Of course you are,' Steve rolls his eyes. 'It looks a lot like his current suit.'

'It is,' he explains, and Steve can't help but grin at the excited tone, 'but it's using the nanotech I've been working on. It can be kept in the spider emblem and then the rest of the suit builds out and around him.'

'Like you've been doing with the other reactors?'

'Exactly like that. Once I've got it right here I'll look at putting it in this one,' he taps the reactor on his chest, 'then I'll have the suit everywhere I go. Eventually I want to make one for everyone.'

'An Iron Man suit for the whole team?' Steve asks.

'Not exactly. I mean not the full suit like I have, otherwise there's not a lot of point in me being here,' the inventor grins and pulls open more files to show Steve. 'I was thinking more along the lines of armour that can be put on in bad situations, but with features to help with some of the more sneaky spy missions-'

'Really Tony? Sneaky spy missions?'

'-and means every member of the team can fly back here if needed.'

'I'm still stuck on the sneaky spy mission description.'

'And you say I have issues with concentrating on the important things,' Tony grumbles.

Steve laughs. 'Sounds like an amazing idea to me, honey,' he reassures him. 'I take it Peter's one is slightly more advanced though.'

'Of course. What kind of a mentor would I be if I didn't give him the best?'

'Mentor?' Steve teases. 'Or person hoping to adopt him?'

'Oh shut it, Rogers,' Tony huffs.

'Boss? Mr Loki is approaching the workshop. Should I let him in?'

'Yeah let him in when he gets here, FRI, we've got a study date.'

'Really?' Steve raises an eyebrow. 'You're using the phrase "study date" when I'm literally right here.'

'Serves you right for your comment just now, you're just lucky I didn't give you another black eye to go with the one Bucky gave you.'

Steve pulls away and presses a kiss to Tony's mouth. 'Just what are you two up to?'

'It may shock you to learn this, babe,' Tony teases, chasing after Steve's lips for another kiss, 'but Loki is just as excited about learning new things as I am. We're putting our heads together until Brucie decides to join us after he's finished with Nat.'

'And discussing what exactly?'

Tony gestures with his arms and spins in his chair to signal his whole workshop. 'Science, Capsicle, science and magic and how they're linked.'

'They're linked?' Steve can't help but be surprised.

'It seems likely, though we'll know more once we've done some more work together. Hopefully it'll be the answer to combating the power of the infinity stones.'

The door opens and Loki enters. 'What happened to you?' he asks.

'Bucky punched him during training,' Tony answers before Steve has chance to.

'What possessed the Winter Warrior to give you a black eye?'

'Long story,' Steve waves him off, 'I'm going to leave you two scholars to it and go find some lunch. Want me to bring something down for you two?'

'Already ate,' Tony shakes his head.

'I am fine, thank you Captain,' Loki replies with a cautious smile. Steve nods to him as he leaves the workshop. He's still not entirely comfortable around the god, but as he looks back and sees the two of them already deep in an animated conversation, pointing to various things on the myriad of screens, he supposes it may only be a matter of time.

* * *

'This in incredible!' Tony says looking between his screens and Loki. The trickster simply smiles and comes over to join him.

'What in particular have you found interesting this time?' he asks.

Tony grabs his arm and drags him closer to the screen, pointing at the results from the test they've just run on Loki's teleportation abilities. He's still too tired to be able to travel far, so the workshop is providing the perfect confined space. 'According to these results you are literally taking apart the molecules of your body and reforming them somewhere else. This shouldn't be possible!'

'Perhaps to humans here on Earth,' Loki responds with a chuckle, 'but on Asgard we've been- we _had_ been doing this for longer than I care to try and remember.'

The inventor turns his piercing gaze onto him. 'It's affected you more than you want to let on hasn't it?'

'We're back to your inane ramblings are we? You may need to be more specific, Stark.'

'It's only us here, Reindeer Games, you don't have to play it cool with me. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Tony? We're science buddies now. Just like me and Bruce. I'm talking about Asgard: the fact it's now gone and the people left from it would rather you didn't exist.'

'Until you stop with the ridiculous nicknames I shall call you what I please,' Loki retorts. 'And please don't tell me you are going to take after my brother and try and make me become sentimental. I am used to leaving people and places behind, especially Asgard.'

There's quiet for a few minutes, and Loki is just about to apologise for being snappy when Tony speaks again, eyes firmly focussing on the screens in front of them. 'I grew up in a house on Long Island that was far too big considering it was just me, my parents, and the staff that kept it running. The only things I remember about it from my childhood is it being big and empty and always seemed to be cold; the warmest place was always the kitchen where I could always find Ana and Jarvis, and she'd let me steal bits from whatever she was cooking. Or when Aunt Peggy would take me down there to make cookies. It's not like it's filled with happy childhood memories, and I haven't lived there since my parents died. But I can't bring myself to sell it. So it just sits there, empty and gathering dust, and once a month I pay for someone to make sure the garden doesn't become a jungle. I'm not a sentimental person either, Lokes, but I can't seem to get rid of the house.' Tony looks at him with dark eyes. 'So believe me when I say, if you _did_ find everything that has happened with Asgard difficult, despite not really caring all that much about it, I'd understand.'

Loki doesn't say anything, not really trusting his voice to remain as unaffected as he would like, but nods his thanks. Tony returns it with one of his own and then brings his attention back to the screens.

'So,' he says, apparently forgetting all about their little conversation, 'just how _do_ you manage to take apart every cell in your body and rebuild it?'

Loki grins. 'I believe the phrase you use is: "buckle up". This is going to take a _lot _of explaining for your tiny Midgardian mind to comprehend.'

'Watch it Reindeer Games,' Tony rolls his eyes, 'don't forget I'm the one who had to teach your brother how to use the appliances, and I imagine I shall be the one to teach you.'

Loki snorts. 'Oh please, comparing my ability to master new skills to Thor's is like comparing your technological skills to the Captain's.'

'Fair point, now back to teleportation!'

* * *

The sound of the argument reaches their ears before they even get halfway down the corridor.

'What on earth?' Bruce asks as they get closer.

'My guess is Bucky and Loki have found something else to argue about,' Natasha sighs, 'honestly those two are worse than Steve and Tony ever were. At least with those two it was really obvious silent pining, and only the occasional blow up when the tension got too much. This is just getting ridiculous.'

'Err…excuse me?' Bruce blinks at her and Natasha laughs.

'Oh Bruce please tell me you aren't that oblivious.'

'You think those two like each other?'

'At the very least they want to have naked fun times.'

'Naked fun times?' he repeats with a raised eyebrow. 'I think we've all been spending too much time around Deadpool.'

'Tony's words not mine.'

'Why am I not surprised?' she hears Bruce mutter and they enter the common area to see Loki and Bucky stood near the kitchenette, the trickster with an irritated look on his face and the soldier with his arms crossed. Tony and Steve are sat on the sofa, with Tony basically in Steve's lap, and Rhodes and Sam on two of the chairs.

'What is it this time?' she asks, sitting next to the couple on the sofa and ignoring the bickering pair.

'I don't know, something about a TV show,' Tony waves a hand absent-mindedly, still looking at something on one of his portable screens.

'A TV show?' she raises an eyebrow. 'I didn't realise Bucky had perfected using the TV yet, let alone Loki.'

'Hey! I can operate a TV just fine thank you!' it appears the soldier heard her comment. 'Don't put me in the same category as Steve.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' the blond demands, frowning at his childhood friend.

'Steve when you first got a laptop you tried to search on the internet by talking to it,' Tony sighs.

'In my defence,' the blond is bright red as Sam sniggers from his chair, 'I was going from your technology to everyday stuff and I didn't realise it wasn't as advanced. All I had to do was ask JARVIS a question, then I went to something where I had to type in commands.'

'So basically you're admitting to being high maintenance,' Tony smirks as he looks up from his tablet.

Natasha laughs at the pout on Steve's face. 'He's got you there, Cap. Though I don't know how _Tony_ of all people can call anyone high maintenance.'

'So anyway I'll be putting this project on Nat's bites away and opening up the one for Sam's wings,' the inventor huffs.

'Having experienced them first hand,' Loki says from where he's leaning against the breakfast bar, 'I don't think they need much improvement.'

'Yeah well you might settle for less than perfect, but not everyone does,' Bucky shoots at him.

'I beg your pardon?' Loki's eyes narrow dangerously.

Before Bucky can reply Tony makes a noise of frustration and stands up. 'Right that's it! I can't concentrate with you two going at it like an old married couple. Bruce come on we're taking Loki back down to the workshop where we might _actually_ be able to get some work done before the world ends. Or at least stop this headache from forming.'

'Don't I get a choice in this?' the scientist sighs. 'What if I want to stay here?'

'Because I need a scientific second opinion on some of the findings, and the only second opinion he gives me,' Tony points a finger at the trickster, 'is to tell me-'

'It's magic, Stark,' Loki interrupts with a smirk.

'-in that infuriating tone! So unless you have plans to get Jolly Green to join us come save me from insanity or we've got to listen to these two find a way to argue about what colour the sky is.'

'I'm not about to start arguing over what colour-'

'Point proven,' Tony cuts Bucky off. 'Come on, Brucie, I know you've missed science bro time. Now we've got a triplet!'

'Is he always this infuriating when he's learning something new?' Loki asks Bruce.

The scientist laughs, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on his shirt before standing up with a smile. 'Just wait until he thinks he's about to invent something entirely new. Then he's worse.'

'If you start building another Ultron I'm banning you from the workshop for a week!' Steve shouts after the retreating trio.

'If we hadn't of made Ultron we wouldn't have Vision!' Tony counters as they disappear into the elevator.

'Unfortunately,' Natasha sighs, 'he does have a point.'

'Don't say that where he can hear you,' Steve looks at her over the top of the book he's reading, 'or you'll be in more trouble than he is.'

* * *

He turns and sees the pile of rubble. Dread clenches at his heart as he makes his way closer, tears stinging his eyes.

'No,' he manages to get past a torn throat. Just like when Wanda had got into his brain when they faced Ultron the team is lying in a heap, all of them now nothing more than broken bodies. Except this time there's more bodies.

Vision is broken, the mind stone no longer glowing, and all the colour has seeped from his body; Wanda lies next to him, her eyes closed and neck at an abnormal angle, next to her Sam's body is mangled, one of the wings of his suit is broken off and pinning one leg to the ground. Rhodes is nearer the top, blood covering his lower body, with Clint sitting, head falling onto his chest, not that far from him, his bow slipping from numb fingers; just below them is Natasha, her eyes glassy and blood dripping down her head to land on Bruce's blank face, all animation that Tony is so used to seeing in the lab is gone from his friend's face.

Bucky, his metal arm ripped from his body leaving wires exposed to the world, is near the bottom of the pile, hand still reaching towards a gun; Scott, ants crawling over his prone body, lies next to him, eyes closed and blood pouring from the back of his head. Even Fury is there, one eye clouded and staring up at the black expanse above them; Tony is surprised at the feeling of loss as he sees Loki and Thor there as well. The blond's larger than life personality dulled as he appears to have fallen on his hammer, one hand reaching out to lifeless form of his brother, a horrible dark mark across the trickster's throat. T'Challa's normally calm and regal features twisted into pain and horror. Wade's head, normally unable to get silent, is sitting on a pike and Tony has the horrible feeling the man won't be coming back from this.

There's two people missing though.

'T-T-Tony?' at the weak voice Tony feels his throat close up in fear and he spins around.

'Peter!' the teen is desperately trying to hold up a huge slab of concrete, his mask is missing but the rest of his suit is on.

'I can't- I can't hold it,' the teen whimpers. 'Tony, please. Help me.'

'I'm coming,' he promises trying to make his legs move. 'I'm coming, hold on Pete.'

'My legs are trapped,' he says, 'I can't move. I can't hold it much longer. Tony please!'

'Peter!' the teen disappears from view as his strength gives out and the concrete crushes down on him. 'Peter!' his limbs are suddenly free and he rushes towards where the teenager disappeared from sight. 'Come on you damn thing,' he's hitting the arc reactor trying to get the nanotech to come out and form the suit. 'Come on!'

'Tony?' He spins again.

'Steve? Steve! Peter's under here. Help me get him out!'

'Tony,' Steve's voice sounds sad, and finally he's able to see the soldier.

'Oh god no,' he breathes, the soldier is buried in a slab of ice. 'No, Steve! What happened? I'll get you out, I promise.'

'Why didn't you save us?' he repeats those words that have haunted Tony since they first learned of Wanda and Pietro's existence. 'You could have saved us, honey. Why didn't you?'

'Steve I didn't know. I'm coming. I'll save you I promise.'

'It's too late, Tony,' another voice this time, one that has shivers running down his spine. He's paralysed, a pain he's only felt once before flooding his veins. He can do nothing as he watches the soldier disappear into the dark ice.

He can't even beg as the form looms over him, a shadowy hand reaching for his chest. 'You didn't save them, Tony. It really is a shame you ended up like this. All alone. Still you did have one last golden egg.' Then the reactor is pulled from his chest, and he watches as the light is carried away, leaving him in darkness.

'Tony!' he thinks he can hear someone calling for him as the darkness becomes overwhelming. He starts to make out little pinpricks of light in the inky blackness. Almost like stars.

'Tony!'

He chokes back a scream, sitting up and flailing around. He can't move much, something is keeping him in place.

'Tony, honey, breathe for me. Come on, just breathe,' a warm voice at his ear. 'I'm here, I'm right here with you. The reactor's safe. I promise you it's safe. It's right here, under my hand and no one's getting to it. I'm here, honey, I'm right here. Not going to let anything get you.'

'Steve?' he hates how weak his voice sounds.

'Right here, Tony,' the soldier presses a kiss to his forehead as his breathing begins to even out.

'Oh thank god,' he turns in the soldier's arms and holds him close, not trying to stop the tears leaking from his eyes but not daring to admit he's crying.

'Hey, Tony, it's alright,' Steve soothes him, running a hand up and down his back. 'I'm right here. We're at the facility.'

It takes nearly half an hour, but eventually Tony manages to calm down enough to tell Steve about his nightmare.

'It's not all on you to keep us safe, honey,' Steve tells him, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, 'we need to keep each other safe, alright? It's not all on you.'

'I'm scared,' he admits.

'So am I, honey,' Steve sighs, 'so am I. But we'll do this together right?'

Tony smiles and kisses him before nodding. 'Always.'

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry I'm a day late updating, I got back from a camping trip yesterday and just kind of crashed. Thank you so much to everyone who has left reviews I'm so glad you're enjoying this series._

_I'm doing a double update this week just so we can move the story along a bit quicker, and also to apologise for being a little late so there won't be a sneak peek this chapter I'm afraid._

_L x_


	4. The Hunt

**Chapter 3 – The Hunt**

'Peter?' his aunt's voice carries through the door, echoing round his head. 'Peter you aren't up yet? You need to be leaving for school in five minutes!'

'Not going,' he grumbles, burying into the covers, 'head hurts.'

'Still?' May opens the door and comes in, a worried frown on her face. 'This is the longest you've been sick in a couple of years, Pete.'

'It's a migraine, May,' he snaps, 'I just haven't had time to sleep it off because everyone keeps trying to check in on me and make more noise.'

_Just learn to leave us alone._

'Do you want me to call Tony?' she asks, lowering her voice. 'Maybe there's something they have in the medical department at the facility that could help?'

'No May!' he snarls, 'I just want to sleep. Now please just leave me alone!'

He wants to go and wrap his arms around his aunt at the hurt expression on her face, wants to tell her he's sorry and he didn't mean what he said. But it feels like something is holding onto his voice, stopping him from saying anything else.

'Alright, I'll leave you alone. Just let me know if you need anything,' she closes the door softly behind her and leaves him to his darkened room.

_I didn't mean it, May, I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm getting so angry, _he thinks, but can't say the words.

_We don't need anyone else_, that voice inside pipes up, _we're better alone. No one to meddle._

His phone starts vibrating and Peter looks over, seeing Wade's name come up on the screen. A small smile creeps onto his face and he raises his arm to reach out and pick it up; only for him to pull it back, almost like a reflex. He blinks in surprise at his hand. _What?_

_We don't need anyone else, Peter,_ the voice says again, _only us. Anyone else is not necessary. Anyone else will hold us back._

Before he can reach out for his phone again it rings out and Peter feels tiredness creeping back up him; before he can stop himself he closes his eyes and falls back onto his pillow, letting sleep claim him.

* * *

The apartment is silent. Peter heard May leave earlier, the door clicking shut softly behind her.

_Peter_, the voice is back again and he resists the urge to hold his head in his hands, _I am hungry. We should leave and find food._ The thought of eating turns his stomach, and Peter swallows back on his gag reflex. _I cannot be satisfied with the food you need. Put on your suit, we need to go somewhere else to find food for me._

'But I don't want to go anywhere,' he huffs. 'I just want to stay here, I don't feel so good.'

_That's because I am hungry,_ the voice insists, _if we do this you'll feel much better. Trust me. Get into your suit, we need to leave soon. You don't want me to die do you Peter?_

'Of course not,' he sighs, begrudgingly throwing the covers off of himself and pushing himself to his feet he shuffles over to the closet where his suit is hanging and pulls it on.

'Peter are you alright?' Karen asks as he pulls the mask on. 'I'm not sure you should be going out. Your vitals are very strange.'

'I'm fine, Karen,' he sighs, 'just trust me alright?'

'I think I should notify Mr Stark.'

'_No!'_ he shouts, surprising himself with the venom behind his reply. 'Sorry, Karen,' he shakes his head, 'I just don't want him to worry over nothing. The whole team have enough on their plate planning for Thanos' arrival without adding my migraine to their problems. I'll let you know if you need to get hold of him, though. I promise.'

'Alright, Peter,' Karen says, and if an AI could sound worried she would win the prize.

'I'm just going to go for a bit of fresh air, why don't you go into standby alright? I'll let you know if anything comes up,' he's not entirely sure where that idea came from, he's never put her in standby before, always preferring to have someone to talk to on patrol.

_You have me to speak to now, Peter,_ the voice responds.

'Alright,' Karen responds to his instruction, 'let me know if you need anything or if you start to feel worse.'

'Will do,' he says, a small smile at the fact that even an AI that Tony makes cares so much about the person it's been made for.

_Food, Peter,_ the voice insists again, _I'm so hungry._

Moving almost without thinking, Peter opens his window and slips out, hurrying up the side of his building before swinging out across the city. As soon as he starts to move he feels a lot better, and all of his senses seem to focus in a way he's never known before.

_This is what it feels like when we work together, Peter,_ the voice says, _we can be so much more and be so much more powerful. I can help you focus your senses for their real purpose._

'What do you mean their real purpose?' he asks, finding a thrill in the new way he sees the city as he swings through it.

_The purpose you've already started to find,_ the voice replies as he lands on a railing on a building and looks around, suddenly very aware of just how many people there are in New York city. _The hunt._

* * *

Bending over Peter takes shuddering gasps, trying to bite back on the bile rising in his throat, mask held tightly in one hand.

'What the hell was that?' he demands shakily, arms hugging his stomach tightly as he fights back the images in his head.

_Why did you ssstop usss? _The voice demands, the 's' sounds now beginning to elongate in its rage. _We are sso hungry, Peter!_

'You wanted to eat-' he swallows, bile rising again at the thought. 'You wanted to eat that _woman_.'

_Meat iss meat,_ the voice counters, _you have no problem eating your ssteak. Why do you deny me my food?_

'Because I don't eat people!' he snaps, the memory of craving the young woman's flesh still very close to the front of his mind. 'I mean what the hell? What even _are_ you? Get out of my head!'

_You can't get rid of me now, Peter,_ the voice snaps back, _we are one you and I._

'I'm calling Tony,' he decides.

_No!_ the voice growls, and he suddenly finds his hands don't want to obey him.

'What-'

'Baby Boy!' Peter turns at the familiar voice and feels a rush of relief at the red-clad mercenary approaching across the rooftops.

'Wade!' his shout is cut off, almost like someone is grabbing hold of his throat.

'What are you doing out here?' the man asks, coming to a stop in front of him. 'You're definitely supposed to be in school and last I heard you still weren't feeling well. Your headache gone?'

'Why don't you stop poking your nose in where it doesn't belong? I'm fine,' he snaps in response. _What? Why did I say that?_ He thinks. _No I need Wade to help me, what- _dread fills him when he realises what's happening. _No! Don't you dare talk to him! Don't speak to him. Give me back my voice!_

_Sssorry, Peter_, the voice replies, _but I need to make sssure that I sssurvive. This partnerssship is now at an end and we'll do what I ssssay._

'What the fuck, Pete?' Wade's mask's eyes widen. 'I'd think my partner not feeling well is definitely high on the list of things that are my business and so nose is poking. Now what the fuck is wrong with you?'

Peter tries to fight it, but the being inside of him continues to have control over his voice and, if he was in control, he knows his eyes would be filled with tears of frustration. Out from his mouth comes a bitter laugh, a sound Peter isn't even sure he would know how to make. 'You a partner for me? Is that _really_ something you believed?'

'Wha-'

_Stop, please,_ Peter pleads with the voice.

'Come on, _Wade_,' the way it says the man's name has Peter screaming, 'I can barely stomach it when you kill someone trying to defend me, and you still kill people for a living. Do you really think that's something I was going to continue to put up with? Not to mention every time I have to look at you with the mask off it's like the freak show turned up in town. And don't even get me started on your frankly debatable sanity, the personality that's more irritating than I can describe, not to mention obsessive. I mean you basically stalked me for months before I thought we could start this little game-'

'_Game?_'

'-honestly I was hoping you'd just get bored and move on, like a child getting tired of its newest toy. But apparently not. Apparently I actually have to spell it all out for you.'

'Baby Boy-'

'_God_ enough with the annoying nicknames already! Can't you learn people's names? Just get the hell away from me, Deadpool.'

'This isn't you, Pete,' Wade says, eyes of his mask narrowing, 'what the fuck is going on?'

'This is me, Wade,' it spits back at him, and Peter just wants to cry. 'This is me telling you to get the hell away from me. In fact get the hell out of New York. I see you around here again I'll stick the Avengers on you. The Winter Soldier would just _love_ to send you packing.'

'Baby Boy, what's happened?' he starts to move towards him and Peter can't describe how relieved he is that Wade knows there's something wrong.

'I told you to get away!' the voice snarls and, before Peter can even try and stop it, it sends Wade flying over the side of the building with a full-strength kick.

_No! Wade!_

_Quiet, Peter,_ the voice hisses, _you know he won't die. Or at leassst if he doessss he'll come back. Maybe now he'll ssstay out of our businessss._

_Why are you doing this? Why would you hit him with full strength?_ Peter demands. _He was worried about me! _

_ He ssshouldn't be interfering. _

_ Wade,_ Peter cries, feeling blackness creeping over his awareness. _Oh god, Wade, please don't leave me, please don't give up on me. I need you, Wade, I need your help._

_ You don't need anyone but me, Peter,_ the voice insists, as Peter begins to lose more and more awareness, struggling to keep seeing with his own eyes.

_Wade, please, _he begs before he slips out of consciousness.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you've enjoyed the double update this week. Please don't kill me for what I did to Wade._

_Please do let me know what you think about where this story is going, I think everyone has worked out that it's Venom who is taking over Peter and I'm doing a very free-form version of him to fit in with the plans I have for the series. I do love reading your reviews and I've had so many ideas for future instalments from requests I've had from all of you so please please do review and let me know what you think and what you'd potentially like to see from either characters or stories. Or if there are any other characters you'd like to see turn up!_

_Love as always,_

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek:_

. FRIDAY interrupts their discussion. 'Boss? Wade Wilson has just arrived and wants to speak to you.'

'Wade's here?' Tony frowns. 'Tell him we'll meet him in the common area, FRIDAY.'

'Sure thing, boss,' the AI replies, and Loki is still trying to get used to it.

'Come on, team, look alive,' Tony claps his hands and climbs to his feet, 'let's go see what our favourite mercenary wants.'

'Favourite is a bit of a stretch,' Barnes mutters as they all climb to their feet.


	5. Bad News

**Chapter 4 – Bad News**

'Boss? Secretary Ross is on the line, he says it's urgent.'

Tony groans. 'I bet he does and I can probably guess what he wants to talk about; I was hoping we'd have a few more days before having to have the discussion about why the Asgardians are here. Loki I need you to get upstairs but don't leave the Avengers' area, it's the only part of the facility I've been able to block all access to surveillance from. If you want to listen in on the conversation head to the briefing room. FRIDAY pass on the message to the team that Ross is on the phone and to go there if they want to listen in.'

'Of course boss,' the AI responds.

'I'll head up with him, Tony,' Bruce says, standing to follow the trickster where they'd all been sat in the lab together.

'Would you mind staying, Bruce?' the inventor asks.

The scientist frowns in confusion. 'Why?'

'Boss, the Secretary is becoming rather insistent,' FRIDAY interrupts.

'Tell him I'm making sure an experiment isn't going to explode,' Tony snaps, then turns to Bruce. 'I know he's not your favourite person, Brucie, but I need you here to back up my story. Plus it'll give my lie just now some backing.'

Bruce looks between him and Loki, Tony notices the god give a small nod out of the corner of his eye, and the scientist sighs. 'All right, I'll stay. But if he succeeds in bringing out Hulk don't blame me.'

'At least we'll have all the team together!' Tony claps his hands. 'Get out of here, Reindeer Games, I've got to keep your being here as secret as possible. Okay FRIDAY bring up the call. Brucie make like scientists.'

'Patching the call through, boss, Agent Romanoff and Sergeant Barnes are already in the briefing room.'

'Stark what the hell are you doing keeping me on hold? I said it was important!' Ross' voice thunders through the lab.

'Yes well like I told FRIDAY to tell you we were in the middle of an experiment and needed to make sure it didn't explode.'

'And just who is 'we'? It better not be that little runt you've been keeping around-' Ross' eyebrows shoot up when he notices who is in the room with Tony, and it takes every ounce of his self-control, and a considerable amount of gritting of his teeth, for him not to respond to the remark about Peter. 'Well, well, Banner. What a surprise.'

'Ross,' Bruce nods his head, a matching frown on his face. 'Can't say I'm pleased to see you.'

'So the stories I've heard must be true,' Ross turns back to Tony, 'I take it Thor is also with you? The Council will want to speak to him.'

'Yeah no can do,' Tony replies, semi-ignoring Ross by turning back to one of his screens, 'Thor's off world.'

'What?!' Ross shouts.

'Well if you'd give me a chance to talk I could explain for you,' he responds. 'Thor arrived a few days ago with what was left of the people from his home world and Bruce. Seems they had the mother of all family arguments, honestly makes me glad I'm an only child-'

'What exactly were you doing on Asgard, Banner?' Ross turns to the scientist.

'Thor found me on another world where I'd ended up. I don't remember much of how I got there, Hulk was in charge at the time.'

'Hmm,' Ross turns back to Tony. 'What bullshit story you going to come up with now, Stark?'

'I'm offended that you think I would lie to you, Ross, especially since you've always been so transparent with me,' he fixes the other man with a hard look. The two stare at each other for a few moments, and Tony wishes he was close enough to punch the man. 'As I was saying,' he continues, 'mother of all family spats which resulted in Asgard being destroyed, fortunately the two were killed at the same time so we don't have to worry about them coming after him for revenge. Anyway he asks if we wouldn't mind housing his people while he finds another place for them to settle.'

'And his brother was killed in Asgard?'

'Actually it was a long-lost sister that destroyed Asgard,' Tony responds, turning back to his screen. 'I don't know Loki's precise location at this moment in time. Neither does Thor.'

'So you're not housing him with the rest of the Asgardians?' Ross asks slowly.

'Nope,' he replies, noticing Bruce's quick glance in his direction. 'I don't think it'd be a good idea to house him with the rest of Asgard do you?'

'Forgive me for not trusting you to be sensible,' comes the growled response.

'Strangely enough I'm become a lot less trusting since someone helped Hammer to put this back in my chest,' he taps the arc reactor, eyeing Ross' reaction out of the corner of his eye.

'Any luck on tracking down any information as to who his accomplice was?'

'Not at the moment, but we know it was someone with access to the security system in the Avengers' facility so until further notice only the team has access to any of it in our quarters. The rest of the facility you can play with to your heart's content. Now if you don't mind I've got catching up to do with my science bro and we're in the middle of an experiment.'

'What? Stark you cannot take away my security clearance-'

'Already did. Bye!' Tony closes the call and heaves a sigh, resting his head on his crossed arms on his desk.

'You alright, Tony?' Bruce asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

'Yeah, it went better than I thought, Brucie-Bear,' he replies, pulling himself upright again. 'Let's go see the others I'm sure several of them will have something to say about how I handled that.'

'You mean Steve's going to tell you off for being disrespectful?' Bruce suggests with a wry smile. Tony gives a small chuckle as they head towards the door.

* * *

Loki looks up as Tony and Bruce enter the briefing room, he's sitting in the back corner for once trying not to draw attention to himself. He's still trying to get his thoughts in order from the phone call they've all just been listening to.

'So who's going to yell at me first?' Tony asks as he sinks into a chair at the head of the table.

'I'm not going to yell at you,' Romanoff replies, 'but I will say I think it was risky all but challenging Ross over your abduction.'

'You mean he was bloody awesome taking on Ross?' Barnes supplies with a laugh. 'I mean damn Tony, yeah you took some risks, but that was brilliant to watch.'

'I think what they're trying to say,' Rogers rolls his eyes, 'is that you did good, Tony, though you did say some things we would rather you hadn't taken the risk with.'

'Wow, no one's telling me off? I think I died and went to heaven,' Tony laughs, but does relax slightly in his chair. 'He asked about our progress with the Hammer investigation, do you think he knows more than he's letting on about our progress?'

'No,' Bruce shakes his head, 'Ross isn't exactly the most subtle, he'd not have brought it up if he did. If anything I'd say he's a bit worried.'

'Let him sweat,' Wilson spits, 'bastard deserves it after everything he's put us all through.'

'Why did you lie about me?' Loki eventually asks, trying to ignore all the eyes that turn to him and instead looking straight at Tony.

'Good point, Tony,' Barnes' voice turns a little harder, 'why did you lie to him about the madman back here.'

'I'm hardly insane,' Loki rolls his eyes.

'Yeah I've seen the footage from when you were kept on the Raft when you invaded Earth,' the soldier counters, 'you're basically the poster boy for insane evil villain.'

Loki tries not to wince at the reminder of that period and covers it with a frown. 'I was… not entirely myself then. You haven't answered the question,' he looks back to Tony, 'why didn't you tell him about my presence here? If he finds out you lied you could be in an even worse position than you are already.'

'We promised Thor we would look out for you,' it's Rogers who answers, 'and we couldn't do that if we told Ross about you. He'd insist on you being taken into his custody and we couldn't do a lot to protect you there.'

'Considering we know he's linked to HYDRA,' Romanoff adds, 'it wouldn't be in our best interests either if they got hold of you. Especially considering yours and their history in mind control.'

'You make a fair point,' he nods.

'Besides, Reindeer Games,' Tony finally replies, 'I said I'd give you another chance and so far you haven't given me a reason _not_ to trust you.'

'Hasn't exactly given us a reason _to_ trust him either,' Barnes points out with a suspicious glare his way.

'He has a valid point,' he interrupts before Tony can respond, the inventor frowning at the dark-haired soldier. 'Not to try and convince you a cell is a more comfortable place to stay, and Norns know I've spent more than enough time in one, but my history doesn't exactly point to you being sensible at giving me a chance. I'm curious as to why you are choosing to do so now.'

Tony shrugs. 'Call it instinct,' he replies, 'I called Bruce turning up to help us in New York, I've got a feeling you'll come through for us eventually.'

'Besides,' Maximoff cuts in, 'Peter trusts him and that's good enough for me.'

'That kid has a habit of forming attachments to crazy people,' Barnes rolls his eyes, 'how is _that_ a valid argument?'

'Actually Wanda makes a very good point,' Vision replies. 'Peter has what he calls his "spider-senses" which warn him of danger, from what he has told me they go off around people as well as situations. If he does not think he has anything to fear from Loki, I am sure the rest of us do not either.'

Barnes frowns and opens his mouth to respond, but shakes his head and leans back in his seat, falling silent. FRIDAY interrupts their discussion. 'Boss? Wade Wilson has just arrived and wants to speak to you.'

'Wade's here?' Tony frowns. 'Tell him we'll meet him in the common area, FRIDAY.'

'Sure thing, boss,' the AI replies, and Loki is still trying to get used to it.

'Come on, team, look alive,' Tony claps his hands and climbs to his feet, 'let's go see what our favourite mercenary wants.'

'Favourite is a bit of a stretch,' Barnes mutters as they all climb to their feet.

Maximoff falls into step next to Loki as they leave the room last. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye. 'You want something young witch?'

'You know,' she smirks, 'from anyone else I'd hate being called that, but for some reason I don't mind you calling me a witch so much.'

He's completely thrown by her reply so he keeps walking in silence. In all honesty he's still trying to wrap his head around the trust that's being shown towards him.

'They'll come round,' she assures him, 'like I said: Peter trusts you and he's usually right. So's Tony, though we don't tell him that. It's not a good idea to help with his ego.'

Loki lets out a short laugh. 'I'll remember that. I, er…' he trails off, the next words foreign in his mouth, 'thank you. For what it's worth. I'm not used to…'

'Wanting to belong somewhere?' she supplies, giving him a sad smile. 'Yeah I didn't either at first, but this group of misfits really doesn't give you much of a choice. You start off against them, and then at some point you suddenly want to be a part of it.'

His reply is cut off when they enter the common area to see Wade pacing backwards and forwards. 'Just tell me what the hell is going on, Stark,' he growls, 'something is up with Pete, as in really fucking wrong. What happened last week? You been doing some kind of experiments with his suit? Cause I've got to say I'm really not a fan of the new fucking paintjob.'

'What are you talking about Wade?' Tony demands. 'What's wrong with Peter?'

'Wade,' Maximoff hurries forwards and takes hold of the man's arm, guiding him towards a seat, 'tell us what's happened. None of us have seen him since Vis and I came on patrol with you.'

Her words appear to calm the scarred man, and Loki is surprised to find a twinge of worry about the young boy they're talking about. _I'm going soft,_ he laments to himself.

'I spoke to him on Monday and he wasn't feeling well,' the mercenary starts.

'What?' Tony frowns, looking around the others he asks, 'did he tell any of you?' Everyone shakes their heads. 'Alright, sorry, carry on.'

'Said he had a really bad headache, sounded fucking terrible too, like he'd drunk his way through a liquor store and was feeling the hangover; I asked if he'd had many since the spider bite and he said this was his first one after the initial migraine and fever. He thought he was just over tired from doing more patrols than normal last week.'

'Do you think that could be a thing?' Tony looks to Rogers and Barnes. 'You two have possibly the closest comparable physiology to him.'

'Maybe,' Rogers frowns, 'but I would be surprised.'

'Said he felt weird with it too,' Wade continues, voice quiet, 'said he was getting irritable and that he snapped at Ned and MJ. Stopped picking up my calls after Monday night, then when I saw him today…'

'Wade?' Maximoff asks him quietly as the man ducks his head, not looking at any of them.

'That can't have been him,' the man says, voice sounding broken and Loki can't help a shiver of dread. 'I refuse to believe that he could be that fucking cruel.'

'What?' Tony goes to stand next to him. 'What are you talking about?'

'The stuff he was saying was just….it was everything he would know would hurt me the most and…I can't believe he was saying them and was himself, Tin Can, it just…it wasn't Peter. I've never seen him look at anyone with that much anger and hate in his eyes.'

'He's stopped responding to my messages as well,' Maximoff says quietly, looking up at Tony. 'Normally he replies straight away unless he's at school. Even if he's on patrol he'll get Karen to respond.'

'What did you say about the suit, Wade?' Rogers asks. 'Tony hasn't seen him to give him any changes in over a week.'

'But the suit was different,' Wade's frowning as he looks up at the inventor. 'It was all dark and…yeah really fucking weird.'

'Dark?' Tony frowns, and Loki can see the man is starting to get really worried.

'Yeah like it'd been dipped in a vat of black dye or something.'

The sound of a phone ringing interrupts whatever the inventor is about to say and he takes the piece of technology from his pocket. 'It's May Parker,' he frowns and answers it. 'Ms Parker? Everything alright?' There's a pause and the colour drains from his face.

'What is it?' Maximoff asks, eyes wide.

'Hang on a second,' he says into the device, then looks at the team. 'Peter's attacked his aunt.'

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone! I would say sorry for the cliffhanger - but I'm only sorry I'm not sorry. Thank you so much for your continued support of this series. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter; as much as I wanted to just focus on Peter and his problems in this story, I did have to remember that Ross isn't just going to leave the team alone._

_Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed this week. Please please do let me know what you think of this chapter, I do love reading reviews and responding to them - especially since talking to you about these stories has given me ideas for further down the line!_

_As always thank you so much for your support._

_Love you all!_

_L x_

_And as always here's your sneak peek:_

_What are you doing?_ The voice shrieks, making his head feel like it's about to explode.

_Finding somewhere you can't hurt anyone else I care about,_ he responds, though begins to slip back out of consciousness once he's a couple of blocks away from his apartment. _No,_ he growls, _just a little more time._

_Your time isss almosst up, Peter, _the voice taunts him again, _sssoon you will be jussst a memory, and I will be in control._

_ Not yet you're not._


	6. Losing Control

**Chapter 5 – Losing Control**

Peter feels consciousness creeping up on him again. He's not sure how much time has passed but he's now stood in the living room back at the apartment, still in his suit though the mask is now off, and there's shouting.

'Peter what the hell is going on?' May shouts. 'Ever since the weekend you've been acting weird and now you're shouting at me for being concerned about you sneaking off in the suit. And what the hell have you done to Tony's suit anyway?'

'Just leave me alone!' Peter's voice screams. 'You've been far too interested in your new boyfriend anyway. Why the sudden concern now?'

May looks close to tears. 'Peter I'd never…how could you think I'd stop caring about you because I've met someone?'

'Didn't take you all that long to get over Ben did it?' the voice taunts. 'I shouldn't be surprised that it didn't take as long for you to forget about me.'

'What? Peter that's not fair!' May's properly crying now and no matter how hard he struggles he can't seem to wrestle back control of his body. 'This isn't you either. Has something happened on patrol?'

'What just because I'm speaking my mind for once you think there's something wrong?'

'Peter…I'm calling the team. Something has happened to you,' his aunt's voice is firm and he's never in his life felt such relief.

'No!' the voice shrieks and begins to lunge towards her.

_NO!_ Peter puts everything he can into stopping his body from reaching his aunt, and ends up going sprawling into the table.

_What did you do that for?_ The voice demands.

_You tried to hurt May! _He snaps back. _Wade might be able to recover but she wouldn't and I'm not going to let you hurt her!_

'Peter, what the _fuck_?' May screams, looking at him with actual fear in her eyes. It breaks his heart.

Unable to regain control of his voice, but able to hold on enough to control his body he pulls the mask back on and leaves the apartment. He needs to find some way of getting back in control somewhere he can't hurt anyone.

_What are you doing?_ The voice shrieks, making his head feel like it's about to explode.

_Finding somewhere you can't hurt anyone else I care about,_ he responds, though begins to slip back out of consciousness once he's a couple of blocks away from his apartment. _No,_ he growls, _just a little more time._

_Your time isss almosst up, Peter, _the voice taunts him again, _sssoon you will be jussst a memory, and I will be in control._

_ Not yet you're not._

* * *

Sam hesitates in front of the apartment door. He's not met Peter's aunt properly before, but considering the woman can make Tony Stark nervous he's not sure he's ready for this. Anyone who isn't Pepper Potts or Steve Rogers and can make Tony Stark nervous is a force to be reckoned with. Plus he's currently wishing he was in his wings and helping look for the kid.

Heaving a sigh he knocks on the door and tries not to fidget as he waits for it to open. May Parker eventually opens the door, her face tear-streaked although she appears to have stopped actually crying.

'Hi Ms Parker, I'm Sam,' he says, trying to smile, 'I'll take you up to the facility.'

May sniffs and nods. 'Come on in I'll just grab some things,' she says quietly, moving back into the apartment and leaving him to follow. Sam notices the coffee table is broken and tries not to look too shocked in case he upsets her. He can't see any bruises on her, so he's hoping that's not from her.

'Peter,' her voice catches as she says her nephew's name, 'he fell into it when he jumped at me. It was weird,' she continues after a pause, 'almost like he was stopping himself mid-jump or something.'

'We've split the team into two,' he explains, figuring that telling her what the plan is will help to settle her a little. 'Tony, Rhodey, Steve, Wanda and Wade are all out looking for him now. I said I'd come and get you so you could keep up with everything that was happening. Bucky, Vis, Bruce and Nat are still back at the facility, we thought it was a good idea to have someone up there in case he went there for help. If something is wrong he may be heading that way, and we made sure there was an even split of power in case…' he trails off realising she may not want to hear the next bit.

'In case he tries and attacks them right?' she says. 'Don't try and molly-coddle me, Sam. I've all but raised that boy since he was seven years old, I want to know everything that is going on.'

He nods. 'Sorry, I just didn't want to-'

'I know,' she gives him a small smile, 'you're just like Tony. But he's learnt it's better to just tell me as it is. Just wish Peter would learn to do the same.'

'I don't know how the search is going,' he tells her, 'we'll be able to get an update once we reach the facility.'

'Then what are we waiting around here for?' she asks, raising an eyebrow in a very Natasha-like manner that Sam wonders if they should maybe keep those two apart.

'If you've got everything we'll go now,' he says, leading her out of the apartment.

* * *

Loki looks over as Wilson enters the room with Peter's aunt.

'Any updates?' Wilson asks, they're in the briefing room keeping up with the search.

'They've found him,' Romanoff's voice is tight, 'they're on the bridge confronting him now. He- he sounds off.'

'He's far too angry to be Peter,' Barnes says, voice and face dark, 'something is wrong with that kid. They need to get him back _now_.'

'Come on, Pete, it's us,' Rogers' calm voice comes through the speakers, 'you know we're only here to help. We're worried about you, kid.'

'Stay back before I have to hurt you, Captain,' Peter's voice growls back. Loki frowns, there's an edge to it that is sparking some memory in the back of his mind, but he can't quite place it.

'Come on, Pete, you aren't going to hurt us,' Rogers responds, 'you'll rarely go all out in a game of soccer you're too scared of hurting anyone, even me or Buck.'

'Maybe that wasss true before,' there's a hiss to the boy's response, 'but not anymore. Now I've met sssomeone who can help me reach my full potential. Sssomeone who doessn't let me hold back. Now I know what my powersss are really for.'

'What are you talking about?' Wanda's voice this time, the girl sounds terrified. 'Peter what is going on?'

'The _hunt_,' he hisses, 'that'sss what they are for. Ssso _hungry_. He won't let me _feed!_ All because _you_ all hold him back.'

'What the hell?' Bruce frowns and looks around the room. 'What's he talking about? It sounds like there's something controlling him.'

Loki hasn't had many occasions to feel real fear, but true ice cold fear is currently pooling in his stomach. 'Oh Allfathers help us,' he mutters.

'What?' Romanoff looks at him. 'You know what's wrong with him?'

'I hope I'm wrong,' he says, looking at her, 'but that…that sounds like a Symbiote.'

'A _what?_' Bruce asks,

'A parasitic lifeform. They take control of a host and force them to feed-' he cuts himself off, casting a brief glance towards Peter's aunt. From the pale faces in the room he guesses he doesn't have to finish the sentence.

'Can we save him?' she asks, tears running down her face.

Loki's at a loss for words. 'I don't know if there's the instruments needed on this planet.'

'Can _you_ save him?' she asks.

He opens and closes his mouth a few times. 'Possibly,' he answers. 'If it is a Symbiote then there's a chance I can but-'

'No buts Loki,' Romanoff cuts him off, gaze hard, 'can you or can you not help him?'

'I can,' he answers, 'but only if it doesn't have too strong a hold on him. I've seen it once in Asgard, one of our warriors had been infected with one. We caught it too late and we weren't able to save them, but I know how to extract them.'

'How long is too long?' Peter's aunt asks him.

'It depends on how strong the individual is,' he replies, 'but if he was able to stop it from attacking you then there may still be a chance. I'd have to get to him _now_ though.' He turns to the rest of the group. 'Someone needs to get me to him _now_ or we can't save him.'

'Take one of the jets,' Bruce says, 'fly out there.'

'I'll take-'

'I'll take you,' Barnes cuts Romanoff off, a blank expression on his face. 'Nat let the others know we're coming and to keep Peter occupied. You,' he points a metal finger at Loki, 'come with me. You try anything I'll tear you apart.'

'Bucky,' Romanoff's voice is full of warning.

'Peter's more important than anything else, Nat,' he responds to the other assassin, 'but I'm still giving him the warning.'

Loki simply stands and follows the man without a word as they hurry to one of the jets. They move in silence and Barnes fires up the controls, closing the door behind them. 'Sit down,' he grunts. 'I'm going to be flying fast and don't want to have to worry about you knocking yourself out because you lost your balance.'

'Why Seargent Barnes, anyone would think you cared,' Loki smirks, trying to ignore the fact that he is genuinely concerned about the teenager's welfare. He is most certainly _not _becoming attached to any of these humans.

The look he receives could have frozen a fire demon. 'Peter is the one I care about. Right now you seem to be the only one who can help him. You fuck this up and there won't be a way you can crawl out of the hole I put you in. Understood?'

'Charming as always,' is his retort, 'but surely getting us there is more important than threatening me at this moment in time?'

* * *

_A/N: So it's got to get worse before it gets better...kind of like the flu? Please don't hate me, I know I'm being really mean to Peter. I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite it not having the rescue everyone's waiting for._

_Thank you so much to everyone who has left reviews on this story, and indeed the entire series! I actually went back and had a look at all the numbers and was completely blown away (yet again) by the support you've all been showing me. So much so I'm going to do a mid-week update to say thank you to everyone!_

_Please do continue to leave reviews and let me know what you think about where the story and series is going, I really do love to hear all of your thoughts and you guys give me so much inspiration for other things I can include. I know I haven't responded to all the reviews yet this week, I shall be doing that this afternoon as I sit on a coach._

_Look for the next update around Monday/Tuesday and thank you so much again!_

_Love L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek (please don't hate me):_

_'Override code-' he chokes again on tears but presses on, feeling his control starting to slip. 'Override code Baby Genius 2-0-0-4. Turn off, Karen, and thanks for everything.'_

_He doesn't get a response as his AI goes silent, the override code doing its job. _

What are you doing, Peter? _The voice demands._

You're right,_ he replies, no longer able to respond out loud as his grip on the control begins to fade. _I can't fight you forever, you're too strong. But I can't let you hurt my family any more.


	7. The Bridge

**Trigger warning: attempted suicide in this chapter**

**Chapter 6 – The Bridge**

Peter's given up trying to keep control of his voice simply so he can maintain some form of control over his body. He'd wanted to cry with relief when he'd heard the sound of repulsors and looked up to see Tony and Rhodes flying towards him in their suits. The voice had managed to get enough control to continue to run, though, and they'd ended up on the bridge, the two of them struggling for control over his body. Unfortunately they'd ended up near the centre of the structure between a lot of the metal framework which was making it difficult for any of the team to get close.

Tony and Rhodes are hovering nearby, a little below where he's holed up, Steve and Wade are perched on different beams a little above him but any attempt to get closer has had them risking injury, and since they're above the water that is not something they're wanting to risk. Wanda is a little further back than they are, not quite as nimble over the structure as the two ex-military men.

_I'll take them all down with ussss, Peter_, the voice warns, _ssso let'sss not let them get too clossse, ssshall we?_

_You're not hurting any of them_, he growls back in response.

'Peter! Come on kid, talk to me,' Tony calls out to him. 'What's going on? I know I didn't miss your birthday, and I'm pretty sure there's no other important dates coming up, so what's brought this on?'

'Stay away from me!' he screams. 'All of you stay back. Don't think that by pretending you care this'll end any differently.'

'What are you talking about?' Rhodes asks. 'The only way this is going to end is with you coming back with us and this all getting sorted out.'

'Sorted out?' his voice laughs. 'I think you mean you'll have me dancing to whatever tune you want to play.'

'Come on, Pete, it's us,' Steve's calm voice says, and he turns to look at him, trying to draw strength from the calm, steady blue eyes, 'you know we're only here to help. We're worried about you, kid.'

'Stay back before I have to hurt you, Captain,' he growls.

_You won't,_ he tells the voice, _I won't let you._

_ Sssoon you won't have a choicccce, _it hisses back.

'Come on, Pete, you aren't going to hurt us,' Steve responds, 'you'll rarely go all out in a game of soccer you're too scared of hurting anyone, even me or Buck.'

'Maybe that wasss true before,' this time the voice is so strong the hisses have come through in his response, 'but not anymore. Now I've met sssomeone who can help me reach my full potential. Sssomeone who doessn't let me hold back. Now I know what my powersss are really for.'

'What are you talking about?' Wanda's voice sounds terrified and it pulls at Peter's heart. 'Peter what is going on?'

'The _hunt_,' the voice hisses, 'that'sss what they are for. Ssso _hungry_. He won't let me _feed!_ All because _you_ all hold him back.'

_That's not true!_ He shouts internally. _They've done nothing but push me forwards, I wouldn't be half the person I am today if it wasn't for all of them._

'Whoever the _fuck_ you are that's messing with my baby boy,' Wade's voice is the most dangerous Peter has ever heard it, 'you get the hell out of him_ right now!_'

'Or what?' the voice spits back. 'The only way to get me and Peter separated now is to kill us. And you're not going to do that to him are you Wade Wilson? Think you can hurt him? If anything I've helped him by getting rid of you. Why would he need a _murderer_ hanging around him? Don't you remember when you shot someone trying to _save_ him? He couldn't stand to look at you, to be near you. I've saved him more hurt by pushing you away, you know it's true.'

_SHUT UP!_ Peter screams. _Shut up, you leave Wade alone you piece of-_

_ Ah, ah, ah, language Peter,_ the voice sneers.

'What are you and what are you doing to Peter?' Wanda screams, eyes red with anger. 'Because I know he'd never even _think_ those things, let alone _say_ them.'

'Are you so sure of that?' the voice challenges. 'Are you really so sure what goes on in precious Peter's head?'

'I don't need to use my powers to know that,' Wanda replies. 'I know my bro-'

The voice laughs, a loud and cruel sound that has Peter wanting to claw at his own throat. 'Oh yes you keep calling him your _little brother_,' it sneers. 'So desperate to reclaim what you lost. Was it because of the name? Or because he's just so easily led? Such a lost little lamb isn't he? So easy to make you do what you want if he thinks it'll make you feel better, if he thinks it's what you want. How long before you try and mould him into what your twin once was? How long before you start expecting another voice to answer and get disappointed when it's Peter and not _Pietro?_ How long before it becomes easier to cast him aside rather than keep a second-rate substitute, hmm?'

'I'd never do that,' she says, and Peter can see tears in her eyes. 'You hear me Peter? I'm not going anywhere.'

_Please, stop hurting her._

The voice laughs. 'Oh you should hear him now. All pleading and pathetic. You think it's not what he would think but where do you imagine I'm getting all of this? It's all here in his head. Oh some of it is buried deep. Probably so deep he doesn't even realise it's there. But it is. All of it is. It's just- ah!'

Peter manages to cut off the voice. 'Stop,' he growls, for once with his own voice. It might be weak and pathetic, and it's filled with all the tears he's not been able to release, but it's his. 'Stop hurting my-' he's cut off, the words getting stuck in his throat and he falls to his knees, fingers holding tightly to the metal and it begins to groan underneath his strength.

'Peter!' a chorus of voices, but they're starting to be blocked out again as he struggles to keep hold of consciousness.

'Peter, it's me kid,' the sound of repulsors coming closer and Tony's voice.

'_NO!'_ the voice hisses and black tendrils, that look similar to his webs, but thicker, shoot from his body out towards Tony.

'Tony!' Steve shouts.

'I'm fine,' comes the reply, though Peter can't see what's happening, his vision darkening. 'What the hell is that?'

The voice chuckles. 'As my hold on Peter gets stronger, so more of my abilities come out. Abilities that have moulded with his.'

_My webs,_ Peter realises, _you've copied my webs but without the need for the shooters._

_Sssuch a clever boy,_ it teases him.

'Peter I know you're in there, I know you're fighting,' Tony's voice interrupts his internal conversation. 'Stay with me, kid, _please_. Keep fighting. We're going to save you.'

The voice lets out another cruel laugh. 'Oh you're going to save him are you? You? The _great_ Tony Stark. You who nearly caused his death? Or do you not remember taking away the suit? Do you not remember leaving him to fight in nothing but old clothes? Do you not remember you left him defenceless as an entire building fell on top of him?'

_Stop. That wasn't his fault!_

'Peter, I know-'

The voice cuts Tony off, taunting the man. 'Do you know what it's like, Tony Stark, to have concrete crushing you? Do you know what it's like to not be able to breathe? To have super strength and not be able to move? He called out for help you know. _Begged_ for help and there was no one to hear him. Because _you'd_ taken away the suit that might have spared him all of that. And you know what else? He could only think of you telling him he didn't deserve the suit that could have spared him. You think you can save him? You've already abandoned him once, how long before you do it-'

'-STOP!' Peter's scream cuts through the voice.

'You listen to me, Peter Parker,' Tony's voice is steady, 'you shout and scream at me as much as you like, but that's never going to stop me doing everything I can to keep you safe.'

Hot tears stream down his face. Peter doesn't risk opening his mouth, he's struggling to keep hold of his control as the voice battles against him, but there's a new burst of strength in him.

_You can't fight me forever, Peter,_ the voice hisses as it battles against him.

_He said those words to me after he'd nearly _died_ to keep me safe,_ he retorts, _I'll fight you as long as I need to._

'Come on, Baby Boy,' Wade says, 'just like you said: if we've got each other's backs there's nothing we can't take on.'

_You can't fight me forever!_

'Karen?' he says quietly, gritting his teeth as he struggles to stay in control.

'I'm glad to hear your voice again, Peter,' his AI says, coming out of standby mode. 'What do you need me to do?'

'I need you to record a message for me,' he says, trying to hold back tears, 'for the team.'

'Alright.'

'Tell them,' he grits his teeth and grasps the metal tighter as the voice hits him with renewed strength. 'Tell them thank you for everything, and that I had the time of my life with them. Tell Nat I'm sorry I couldn't perfect that spinning kick, and remind Bucky he's still not allowed to maim high-schoolers,' he chokes on a small laugh. 'Tell Wanda she was the best big sister I could have asked for, and that I hid her favourite ice cream in the upstairs freezer so there was always some for when she wanted a banana split. Tell May I love her, and I'm sorry for all the stress and worry I caused, and tell her she deserves to be happy with Stuart. Tell Tony-' he chokes again and tries to fight his way past the ball of emotion in his throat. When he continues his voice is more a choked whisper than anything. 'Tell Tony I'm sorry I couldn't fight harder, tell him…tell him he was better than any father figure I could have ever dreamed of, and I hope there was even one moment where I made him proud. Tell him he's the best dad ever. And tell Wade… tell Wade I love him.'

'Peter, what are you doing?' his AI asks.

'Turn off the suit, Karen, and no matter what happens do not turn it back on.'

'Peter I can't do that, I am programmed to come on if there is any threat to your life.'

'Override code-' he chokes again on tears but presses on, feeling his control starting to slip. 'Override code Baby Genius 2-0-0-4. Turn off, Karen, and thanks for everything.'

He doesn't get a response as his AI goes silent, the override code doing its job.

_What are you doing, Peter?_ The voice demands.

_You're right,_ he replies, no longer able to respond out loud as his grip on the control begins to fade. _I can't fight you forever, you're too strong. But I can't let you hurt my family any more._

_ What are you doing?_ It screeches. Black tendrils start to form around his body and Peter grabs hold of them, pinning them against himself.

_Doing what I'm supposed to do,_ he replies, _protecting them from you, and from me._

'Peter?' he hears the team members around him calling for him as he stands to his feet. Then, taking a deep breath, he lets one foot hang over the edge.

_Peter you will not do this to usss!_ The voice shrieks at him.

_Watch me_.

'Peter!' he hears the team shout as he takes a step over the side and drops towards the river below.

The voice is shrieking at him, but it takes all of his energy to fight the black tendrils coming from his body, trying to stop whatever it is from saving them.

Dimly he hears the voices of the team as they watch him fall. He hears repulsors from Tony and Rhodes as they try and get close enough to catch him, but the tendrils are thrashing about wildly and the two suits can't get close enough. He thinks he even feels Wanda's powers desperately trying to hold him, but whatever the voice is appears to be stopping them from having any effect.

_Damn you, Peter!_ The voice shrieks. Then both he and it scream in pain as something comes into contact with the tendrils.

White hot pain shoots through his whole body, and he goes limp, no longer able to fight as it paralyses him. Spots dance across his vision.

Just as he's slipping from consciousness he thinks he hears the whirring of a machine, and two arms catching him, holding him against a firm and slightly cool body. Then a voice near his ear.

'I think I should leave the flying to my brother.'

* * *

_A/N: As promised here is your mid-week update! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please don't hate me too much._

_Thank you to everyone who left reviews on the last chapter. Do let me know what you think of this one, and as always do let me know if there's anything you'd like to see from future instalments._

_Love you all_

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek:_

'Let me say what I need to say? Please?' May asks, opening her arms as an invitation for him to lay back down. Dread building in his stomach he just nods and does so; after a pause she carries on. 'Maybe you don't think that, but I do. I can't keep up with all this superhero stuff, and I can't ask you to give it up. It's too much of who you are now, and you'd never be really happy if you did. Stuart… Stuart is thinking of moving to a different part of the State, and he's asked me if I want to go with him; there's a great job opportunity for me as well and I'd love to go with him. But I'm not going to ask you to leave everything behind to come with me. So we've got a few options we need to talk about.'


	8. Changes

**Chapter 7 – Changes**

As consciousness returns he immediately tenses, ready to try and wrestle back control. But it's quiet. Wonderfully, peacefully quiet. In his head at least.

Peter doesn't open his eyes at first, just lets his enhanced senses reach out. There's the sound of multiple people breathing, and the sound of machines, nothing much other than that though. He's warm, and lying on something soft, and it feels like there's a few things wrapped around him. And there's a hand holding his left one.

Blinking his eyes open he realises he's at the facility, in the medical wing. It must be late because the lights are dim, but still bright enough for him to be able to see clearly. Tony's sat next to his bed, both hands holding onto his left one and the man's slumped across the bed, sleeping with his face turned towards him. Behind the inventor he sees a bed has been made up and May is sleeping on it, tear tracks staining her cheeks. His eyes move around the room, taking in Steve sleeping sat up against the wall behind Tony's chair, arms crossed over his chest and his chin resting just above them; Rhodes is sitting in one of the larger chairs, his head leaning against the back of it, Sam in a chair next to him and Bucky asleep sitting on the floor in front, his head resting next to the man's legs. Natasha is curled up on a sofa with Bruce, her head on his shoulder and he can see there's tears falling in her sleep; Wanda is almost a mirror image with Vision on the opposite side. Wade is asleep on the floor in front of them, his head resting against Wanda's leg and the two of them are still gripping each other's hands even in sleep. It seems they'd been trying to seek some form of comfort from each other.

_Because of what you tried to do,_ he admonishes himself, feeling tears well up. All of them look absolutely exhausted and it's his fault. Because he couldn't fight the voice before it got too far.

'You're awake,' a soft voice says from his right. Startled he turns and meets the green gaze and small, surprised smile of Loki. 'I did not expect you to regain consciousness until at least the morning, you're much stronger than I gave you credit for.'

'What time is it?' he asks, voice hoarse.

'A little after two in the morning,' the god responds, offering him a glass of water with a straw.

He takes a few mouthfuls, sighing at the relief of the cool water soothing his throat. 'What happened?' he asks, keeping his voice quiet so as not to disturb anyone.

'How much do you remember?'

Peter thinks back. 'I remember this voice appearing in my head a few days ago, and it started taking control of my actions. Then it tried to…it tried to attack someone and I stopped it and we had more of a fight over control of my body. I remember it attacking Wade and driving him away, and then trying to attack May and then getting annoyed when I stopped it. Then trying to get away from people so it couldn't hurt anyone and the team catching up to me on the bridge, and I managed to fight it enough to…'

'To try and kill it by jumping from the bridge?' Loki supplies.

'Yeah…' he looks down at his lap. 'I just wanted to protect everyone and I couldn't keep fighting it. But then someone caught me.' He looks back over at the god. 'Was that you?'

Loki nods. 'I realised what was wrong when we were listening to the exchange on the bridge. Barnes flew me over in one of the jets and Wilson allowed me to borrow one of his sets of wings so that I could reach you; I was able to use my magic to neutralise the Symbiote's power which enabled me to catch you and put you to sleep so we could remove the creature.'

'It's gone?' Peter asks. 'I mean I thought it was quiet in my head but I didn't want to hope in case…'

'Yes the Symbiote has been removed from your body, it's currently residing in a special container. Romanoff and I tried questioning it earlier and are giving it some time to, I believe the term you humans use is 'stew', before we try and question it some more.'

'What is a Symbiote?'

'A form of parasitic life,' Loki answers, pulling his chair closer to the bed, 'they arrive on planets and enter a native lifeform, when their hold becomes strong enough they try and take over control of that being's body and will then feed on other lifeforms until either the host or they themselves die. I had not thought that one would have reached Earth, but obviously I was mistaken.'

'You've come across them before?'

'I've personally seen one once,' he responds, 'a warrior in Asgard had become infected by one, but by the time we realised what had happened it was too late and we could not save him. We were much more fortunate with you.'

'How long was he infected for?' Peter asks.

'Three days,' comes the god's reply. 'Far too long a time to be exposed to the creature's influence, it had fully taken him over by then.'

'But-' Peter frowns, thinking back. 'But it infected me on Sunday. It had infected me just as long as it had him and you were still able to get it out of me.'

Loki looks at him in shock. 'Sunday? It was inside of you for nearly three full days?'

Peter nods. 'I finished patrol early on Sunday just after it infected me. I mean I didn't realise at the time what had happened, but looking back now I do. You said that was far too long for someone to be exposed to its influence.'

'Peter…' Loki pauses and then continues. 'There were warriors on Asgard, when I was very young, who would go and hunt down Symbiotes in order to become infected by them and see how long they could withstand the creature's influence. It was said only the strongest could withstand them for longer than a few _hours_.'

'Maybe it wasn't a very strong one?'

Loki shakes his head then, after a brief pause, takes Peter's free hand. 'That was one of the strongest I've heard of. For you to be able to wrestle back control from the creature and protect your friends? You must be extremely strong child.'

'If I was that strong I wouldn't have let it take me in the first place,' he pulls his hand from Loki's, bunching it into a fist in his lap and trying to fight back tears. 'I all but gave it control at the beginning. I let it hurt Wade. I nearly let it hurt May. I- I let it say all of those horrible things to the team. It nearly attacked and _ate_ a woman. And I let it take control. I-' he sobs, 'I'm a monster.'

'No Peter,' Loki moves to sit on the bed next to him, putting a tentative arm around his shoulders and letting him cry into his shoulder. 'No you are not. I discovered I am one of the monsters that we were told stories about as children, so believe me when I say you are _not_ a monster, child. You accepted me completely when you met me, knowing what I am and what I had done, and that is something no monster would ever do.'

'But I-'

'You fought it for the sake of protecting your friends,' the god continues. 'And you won. Odin forbade anyone from continuing the practise of seeking out Symbiotes because we lost too many good warriors that way; it was said that only a person with a true hero's heart could withstand their hold.'

'That's just a story,' he mumbles.

Loki chuckles. 'To humans so was I until a small number of years ago. Now go back to sleep, Peter. I promise you the creature will not return to claim you while we all keep watch.'

'But-'

'Sleep,' he repeats, and Peter instantly feels his eyelids get heavy, 'you need more time to recover.'

'That's cheating,' he grumbles, but doesn't fight what he suspects is a sleeping spell as the god chuckles and he slips into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

When he next wakes up it's a lot lighter and Peter's feeling much better than he had when he woke up for his midnight chat with Loki. Only May is in the room this time, and she looks over as he tries to sit up.

'Peter?' her voice sounds so broken he feels tears prick at his eyes again.

'May I am so sorry,' he says, reaching for his aunt who gives a sob and pulls him into a hug.

'Oh god, Peter I thought I'd lost you,' she sobs, holding him so tightly its borderline painful. 'Why didn't you tell me something was wrong sooner?'

'I couldn't,' he admits, holding her as tightly as he dares. 'It wouldn't let me. I'm so sorry-'

'Hey no more of that,' she pulls back and frames his face with her hands, wiping away his tears. 'Loki explained to us about what those alien creatures do. No one here thinks you are at fault for anything, we're just impressed you were able to fight it.'

'But-'

'No, Peter,' she tells him, 'no more apologies. We're just glad you're safe now.'

He nods and shuffles over. 'Can you come up here? I need a proper hug.'

May gives him a watery smile and climbs on the bed, pulling him into a hug like she used to do when he would stay with them when he was little and had had a nightmare. Back when Uncle Ben was alive and his parents would be off travelling for work and leaving him to stay with them in Queens. Before aliens were anything more than a conspiracy theory or something from a movie, and superheroes were things in comic books, and the most Peter had to worry about was what he and Harry would play at the weekends.

They lay like that for a while, both happy to sit in silence and appreciate the fact the other is alive and well.

'Peter?' May breaks the peace with a tentative voice. 'There's something we need to talk about.'

'Ok?'

'Peter ever since you got your abilities I've not been able to protect you the way I should be-'

'May that's not true!' he interrupts, sitting up and looking at her.

'Let me say what I need to say? Please?' she asks, opening her arms as an invitation for him to lay back down. Dread building in his stomach he just nods and does so; after a pause she carries on. 'Maybe you don't think that, but I do. I can't keep up with all this superhero stuff, and I can't ask you to give it up. It's too much of who you are now, and you'd never be really happy if you did. Stuart… Stuart is thinking of moving to a different part of the State, and he's asked me if I want to go with him; there's a great job opportunity for me as well and I'd love to go with him. But I'm not going to ask you to leave everything behind to come with me. So we've got a few options we need to talk about.'

'What are you talking about?' he asks, sitting up again.

'One option,' she continues, 'is I stay here with you and Stuart moves away and that's the end of it.'

'I can't ask you to give that up, May,' he says, 'Stuart makes you the happiest I've seen you since Ben was alive.'

'Oh Peter,' she smiles at him, tears blurring her eyes, 'you really are an amazing kid you know that? Ok so another option is you move with me, but that means leaving school behind and not being able to patrol so much. It'd be a small town so I doubt there'd be much call for a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man; plus it'd be further to get up here to the facility, and you wouldn't be able to see Wade so much.'

'Uh, you know about Wade then?' he blushes.

May smirks. 'Just when were you going to introduce me by the way?'

'Soon?'

She waves him off with a laugh. 'Needless to say I don't think that's a very good option do you?' He shakes his head. 'The third,' she looks a bit apprehensive, 'the third is one I've discussed with Tony but we'll only do if you agree.'

'Alright?'

'The third option is you move here to the facility full time and continue at school in New York and doing patrols afterwards, you could come and visit me every other weekend or so and that way it's not a huge upheaval for you. The other part… the other part is that if you wanted to do this Tony would become your joint legal guardian with me. But only if you agree to all this.'

'Wait, he, what?'

May smiles at him. 'Tony has agreed that, if you want to, you can stay here at the facility full time with the rest of the team if I move away with Stuart; you can continue school at Midtown, doing patrols, training with the team, seeing Wade, and come and visit me every few weeks. He's also agreed to be joint legal guardian so there's no problems from any legal side of things with me moving away.'

'But…May I don't- if I stay I-'

'Peter I'm not going to doubt that you love me and that I love you if you choose to stay in New York,' she says, reading his mind. 'You have a whole life here, not just with school but with the Avengers, and a whole part of that has to stay secret from Stuart. If you move with me you have to leave a huge part of you behind and I can't ask you to do that. I also love you enough to realise that I'm not able to give you everything you need by myself, but there are people here who can and I can still be part of your life.'

_Also,_ he thinks privately to himself, _if I stay here and May moves with Stuart she has a chance to start over and move on with her life. She has a chance to leave all the bad memories behind and I won't hold her back._

'Alright,' he says quietly, 'but only on one condition.'

'Making conditions now are we?' May jokes.

'We never go longer than a month without a visit,' he says, burying his face in her shoulder as he starts to cry.

'You got a deal,' she says, holding him close.

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone, I am so sorry I'm late updating this week! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and can forgive me for the lateness._

_As always thank you so much for your continued support of this story, and I'm so sorry to those people who have left reviews that I haven't had chance to respond to yet. I will do over the next couple of days I promise._

_Please do let me know what you think of this story, reviews are always greatly appreciated (and I will eventually get around to responding - some weeks I'm better than others!)._

_Hope you all have a lovely week._

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek:_

'Tony?'

He looks up at Steve's soft question, his vision blurred by the tears he's holding back. The soldier frowns as he sees the bottle on the table in front of him and the half empty glass in his hand.

'Tony what's happened? May says you had a good discussion-'

'He made a message,' he manages to get out, voice hoarse.


	9. Confiding and Apologies

**Chapter 8 – Confiding and Apologies**

May leaves the room an hour later when Sam comes in, saying she'll go and speak to Tony. Peter misses her as soon as the door closes.

'You know,' Sam says, 'if you wanted diving lessons all you had to do was say.' Peter chokes on a laugh and then can't stop the tears that start falling. The man moves forward to sit on the bed with him and pulls him into a hug, rubbing his back. 'Hey come on now, I know my jokes are bad but I didn't think it was _that_ terrible.'

'I'm sorry, I just-'

'Pete,' Sam's voice softens, 'after everything you've been through the last few days you have nothing to be sorry about, alright?'

'Everyone's saying it wasn't my fault, but I didn't fight it.'

'Oh come on that's complete and utter bullshit. Didn't fight it? Peter you nearly _died_ trying to keep everyone safe from that thing.'

Peter sighs, turning to face away from Sam and look out the window, but doesn't move from the comforting embrace. 'Ever since I became Spider-Man I just seem to be hurting people more.'

Sam is quiet for a few moments before he lets out a big sigh. 'I suppose I can't really argue that there isn't _some_ truth to that statement. As soon as we all got these roles the risk of us and those closest to us getting hurt does go up; we make a lot more enemies and the ones we do make are more likely and more able to try and hurt us. But you've also got to look at how many people you've helped as well, Pete; and they're all people you wouldn't have been able to help before. I know it doesn't always feel like it when all you can think is the bad stuff, but you being Spider-Man has also done a ton of good, kid.'

'I know,' he sighs and finally pulls away to rest against the pillows. 'I just…there's been so many changes that Spider-Man is making in my life I can barely keep up with them and I'm not sure how I feel about it all. I mean some parts are awesome, like meeting you guys and being part of the team, and the powers themselves are amazing, and like I never would have met Wade if I wasn't Spider-Man, but…' he looks down at his lap and plays with the bed covers as he continues to talk, 'sometimes it feels like I'm losing so much as well and I don't really know what to do.'

'Want to tell me about them, kid?' Sam offers, sitting in the chair May had vacated before. Peter does. He tells Sam about his conversation with May and her moving away and him staying here, about how the secrets had been starting to come between them and make it difficult for her with her relationship with Stuart. He talks about the challenges at school having to keep his powers secret, and how it feels like being two different people all the time and how it sometimes feels that he's going insane.

'You know,' he says at the end of it all, 'the only people I feel like I don't have to hold anything back around are you guys and Wade. Even with May I have to keep stuff back so she doesn't worry or she doesn't try and do something that could make people realise she's related to Spider-Man in some way; it's the same with Ned and MJ. I feel like I have to protect them all the time. But with the team and with Wade…'

'You know we've got your back and you've got ours?' Sam supplies.

Peter nods and smiles. 'Yeah.'

'Just how long have you been keeping all this bottled up, kid?'

He blushes and looks away. 'A while.'

'You know you're not alone in feeling all this right? That to some extent we've all been through something similar? Don't be afraid to tell us what you're thinking, Pete, we're not going to judge you for it.'

'I'm so-'

'If you apologise again I'm going to tape your mouth shut,' Sam warns him with a half-smile. He laughs when Peter opens and closes his mouth, unable to think of anything to say that isn't an apology. 'Come on, kid, let's get FRIDAY to set up a game for us. I bet I can beat you at MarioKart.'

'Yeah right,' Peter scoffs.

* * *

Loki looks up as Barnes enters the room where he and Romanoff have been waiting for him to finish with his questioning of the Symbiote.

'You get anything new?' she asks the dark haired man.

'No,' he shakes his head, a scowl on his face that for once isn't because of Loki. 'Not unless you want to hear the jabs it was taking at me trying to get me to lose my temper.'

'Did it work?' she raises an eyebrow.

Barnes looks a little sheepish. 'Not entirely.'

Loki snorts. 'Don't feel bad, Barnes, it did the same to us. It's what they're supposed to do. They get information from their host about the people around them and twist that information into half-truths in an attempt to push them away and isolate the host before anyone can realise what is wrong with them. They usually only make themselves known when it's too late to separate them from their host's body.'

'I doubt we'll get any more information from it anyway,' Romanoff says as she stands up. 'We better leave it in its cage where it can't get to anyone else. Thanks for trying, Bucky, it was getting a bit too hard to listen to what it was coming out with.'

'I can imagine,' he puts a hand on her shoulder, 'you been down to see him since he woke up?'

Loki notices Romanoff swallow heavily before shaking her head. 'Not yet, I…'

'Yeah I know,' Barnes smiles sadly in sympathy. 'Make sure you do though, yeah? I imagine he's beating himself up over everything. Mommy Spider might be the only one who can knock some sense into him.'

'Watch it before I put you on your arse, Barnes,' she rolls her eyes before leaving the room with a nod in Loki's direction. Apparently the way to earn the woman's respect was to interrogate a prisoner together.

'I shall leave you in peace and see if the Asgardians need assistance,' he says after a few moments of uneasy quiet between them. As he walks past the assassin the man grabs his arm.

'Wait,' Barnes looks uneasy and then fixes him with his eyes, not hostile like before but more calculating. 'You helped us save Peter.'

Loki raises an eyebrow. 'I assume you've not taken a blow to the head and need me to remind you of the events of last night and that was not a question. But if you require me to confirm for you events because you believe they were some form of hallucination then yes I did.'

Barnes frowns at him and sighs in what Loki can only assume is frustration. 'Why?'

Loki takes in the man's expression, trying to find some reason behind the question that might end badly for him. He decides to answer truthfully. 'He reminds me of someone I knew when I was very young.'

Barnes looks as though he's debating questioning him further, and Loki is relieved when the man simply nods in response. 'Whatever your reasons, whether you're telling me the truth or not, or whether it's simply a way to throw suspicion off of yourself: thank you. I'm not sure what this team would have done if he'd…' apparently the thought is too much even for the trained assassin to say.

'I can reassure you my reasons were purely selfish,' he says after Barnes doesn't add anything else. 'The boy is the only person to have found me more interesting than my brother on my own merits in a long time. No one is going to believe me but my ego could use a bit of a boost.'

Barnes gives a small huff of a laugh and a small smile appears on his face. 'Yeah, he makes you think you're actually worth knowing just for being you rather than any skills you can add to the team.'

There a few more moments of silence, and for the first time it's not quite as tense between them as before. 'I should go and see to the Asgardians,' he repeats, holding the blue gaze.

'Yeah, you said,' Barnes raises an eyebrow.

'I need you to let go of my arm in order to leave,' Loki smirks and raises his eyebrow in mimicry.

To his utter delight Barnes blinks, looks down at where his metal arm is still gripping Loki's elbow, and then lets go, blushing bright red. 'Right, yeah, sorry.'

'Are you going to insist on coming with me to ensure I don't attempt to override any systems on my way?'

To his surprise Barnes shifts uncomfortably. 'I may have misjudged you and I'm sorry for that. Wanda's right, you know. Peter trusts you and his senses know when he can't trust a person, I shouldn't have been so harsh to you when he was so accepting. Now you're the one who saved him and,' he sighs, 'I'm sorry. Think we could start over?'

Loki's pretty sure his eyebrows have been lost in his hairline. 'All this for one good deed?'

'I think you underestimate how much that kid means to us all. Besides,' this time Barnes is the one to smirk at him, 'you're not exactly in the best of positions to be refusing friends now are you?'

'Friends?' he blinks in surprise.

'What do I have to explain the concept to you? You'll figure it out,' the man says as he leaves Loki standing there, blinking as he tries to cover his shock. _Friendship?_

_The only people who have been your friends have been so for your brother's sake. No one wants you,_ the voice that haunts his nightmares reminds him.

_The child doesn't,_ he reminds himself, shaking his head to rid himself of the voice, _the child doesn't know my brother. As to the rest, only time will tell, but it would be better to keep my guard up for now. Betrayal can go both ways and I'm in no state to be defending myself against the full team of the Avengers; I just have to trust in their need for my knowledge of Thanos and his lieutenants and keep my guard up._

* * *

'Tony?'

He looks up at Steve's soft question, his vision blurred by the tears he's holding back. The soldier frowns as he sees the bottle on the table in front of him and the half empty glass in his hand.

'Tony what's happened? May says you had a good discussion-'

'He made a message,' he manages to get out, voice hoarse.

Steve frown turns to one of confusion. 'What-'

'Peter. He made a message. When he was on the bridge. Before he jumped.'

It takes seconds for Steve's face to clear with understanding and he's next to him, pulling him into his arms and against his firm chest; gently the soldier takes the glass from his hand and puts it back on the table. 'You listened to it didn't you?'

'I just- I thought it could be about how to fight the Symbiote,' he's surprised how steady his voice is, 'I didn't-_god_ Steve, it was-'

'It was him saying goodbye,' Steve's voice is soft and Tony can hear he's holding back just as much emotion as he is. He just nods his head against the other man's chest, tightening his arms around the blond's waist and gripping the back of his shirt.

'I thought the Symbiote saying those things with his voice was going to be the hardest thing I ever heard,' he admits quietly, letting the tears fall now his boyfriend is holding him. 'Mainly because I knew there was some truth to it all. But it was nothing compared to that message.'

'Do you still have it?'

Tony shakes his head and pulls away with a sigh. 'He's alive. Anything he said in the message he'll want to say to people's faces and no one needs to hear that. I don't want him finding it either and listening to it and remembering that moment. I don't want him to remember how we nearly failed him, how I nearly-'

'Don't,' Steve's voice is fierce, 'don't you dare blame yourself for any of it, Tony. Peter wouldn't want you to do that. The _only_ thing that is to blame for anything that happened over the past few days is currently locked up in a cage having already been introduced to Nat, Bucky and Loki.'

'I know,' Tony sighs, 'I know, it's just-'

'You can't help thinking you're the one who should be protecting everyone,' a strong, but gentle hand at the side of his face makes him look up into Steve's blue eyes. 'It's not all on you, Tony. I'm here to help you with every step you take in everything you do. Do you understand, honey? As long as there is a single breath left in my body you are not going to have to do anything alone ever again.'

'I love you,' Tony whispers. 'I'll never tell you as much as you should hear it, Steve, but I do.'

'I love you too, Tony,' he responds, pressing a soft kiss to Tony's mouth. 'Now I think you need to get yourself ready to go and see Peter. I imagine that, other than Wade, you're the only person he wants to see right now. Especially since he's already seen May.'

'He's playing games with Sam I don't want to disturb-'

'_He'll_ be wanting you to, Tony. Now leave that bottle alone and go and see Peter. You have now officially adopted him after all.'

Tony tries not to cry again as he remembers Peter's message. 'I don't want to let him down,' he admits quietly.

'You won't, Tony,' Steve reassures him, wiping away a tear with his thumb. 'If anything you're going to do too good a job and the rest of us are going to feel abandoned.'

Tony laughs softly. 'Promise to tell me if I start to overdo it? You know I have a bad habit of going overboard.'

Steve laughs. 'I promise. Now go see your adopted son will you? Considering I had to put you over my shoulder to get you to leave the room in the first place so you could eat and have a shower I can't believe I'm having to convince you to go back down there.'

Tony smirks. 'Well I can't say I was complaining at the opportunity to be manhandled by a super soldier.' Steve just rolls his eyes and follows him out of the workshop, but Tony notices the small answering smile on his face.

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone. I am so sorry I'm so late updating this week, I've had computer problems and wasn't at home long enough over the weekend to sort them out properly. To apologise properly I'm doing a double update!_

_L x_


	10. Confessions

**Chapter 9 – Confessions**

'I swear you're cheating!'

'Nope, I'm just that good and you suck at MarioKart,' Peter teases Sam.

'I do not _suck_ at MarioKart,' Sam protests.

Tony's leaning against the wall next to the open door, looking in at the two of them sitting on Peter's bed; the youngster looks tired but more like his usual self, and Tony's taking the opportunity to appreciate that he's alive and well and trying to push the memory of that recorded message out of his head.

'You're the one who suggested taking on the master, don't complain when you can't keep up.'

'Just because you can beat me doesn't make you the master of MarioKart, kid.'

'Alright you two, break it up before we have to add MarioKart to the list of banned activities,' Tony laughs as he finally moves into the room.

'You'd never ban MarioKart because you're just as good as he is,' Sam rolls his eyes. 'I'm out of here. The minute you two get together you start speaking a different language.'

'It's called science, Sam,' Peter rolls his eyes.

'Maybe Peter can lend you his textbooks so you can keep up,' Tony quips as he passes the man.

'Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, I'll get you back when Cap decides we're doing circuit training.'

'I think he forgets I have very persuasive measures to get out of doing that,' he says to Peter as the other man leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

'I don't want to know,' Peter replies, scrunching up his face.

Tony just laughs and goes to sit on the bed, facing the teenager. 'How you feeling?'

'Tired,' he admits, 'my whole body feels tired, I haven't felt like this in _ages_.'

'And?' Tony presses when it looks like he wants to add more.

'I feel cold,' he says quietly, 'especially when I'm sleeping.'

'Want me to turn the heating up?'

Peter shakes his head. 'No it's not…it's not like a temperature cold, it's like…'

'It's like it's in your bones?' he supplies as the teen runs out of words.

Peter looks up in surprise. 'Yeah.'

Tony nods and pats the teen's leg through the cover, looking out the window as he sighs. 'Yeah I know a little bit of what that feels like, kid. You remember the Battle of New York?' He sees Peter nod out of the corner of his eye. 'You remember me taking the nuke up through the portal?'

'Yeah,' Peter's voice is quiet. 'I argued with Ned for ages that that made you the best superhero ever, he still thought Hulk was cooler though.'

Tony gives the boy a fond smile and ruffles his hair. 'When I went through I was in space and the suit gave out. Just before I passed out I remember feeling cold. When the nightmares hit, that cold feeling comes back and sometimes it stays with me for part of the day as well.'

'How do you warm up?' Peter's question is quiet.

His smile this time is soft. 'Steve,' he replies. 'The team. You.'

'Me?' doubting brown eyes look up at him through long lashes.

'Course you do, kid,' Tony suddenly finds it difficult to reach for him, the message he had left on the bridge coming back to him. 'You have no idea how much it would break this team if something happened to you. No one would leave your room until Loki told us he'd spoken to you, even then it took a lot of persuasion.' Peter's eyes are filling with tears and he's looking at his hands in his lap rather than at Tony. 'Pete…I listened to your message.'

'I'm sorry,' Peter sobs, burying his face in his hands.

Tony pulls the boy against him, rubbing his back as he sobs and trying to hold back his own tears. 'No, Pete, you don't apologise. Please don't apologise. I'm sorry we didn't realise there was something wrong sooner. I'm sorry we couldn't save you before you felt like that was the only option you had left, and I promise you I am going to do everything I can to make sure you never have to be in that situation again.'

Tony isn't sure how long they stay like that, until Peter's quiet question breaks the silence. 'Do you still have it?'

'No,' he replies, 'anything in there you wanted to say you can tell everyone yourself.'

'Has anyone else listened to it?'

'No,' he says, pulling away a little and brushing some hair from Peter's forehead. 'He jumped after you, you know.'

'What?' Peter's eyes go wide. 'Who did?'

'Wade,' Tony says quietly. 'When you jumped from the bridge he just jumped after you before the rest of us had even caught on to what had happened. Rhodey managed to catch him before he hit the water.'

'Oh god, no,' Peter whimpers, burying his face in his hands again. 'He could have been lost in the river if we couldn't find him. He would have just kept dying over and over…'

'His first thought when he saw you in trouble was to try and protect you even if it meant hurting himself even more,' Tony continues. 'Everyone agrees he's proven himself, Pete, no one's going to give you grief over you two being together now.'

'If he even still wants to. The things it made me say to him…'

'He jumped after you, Peter,' Tony repeats. 'He's barely left your bedside. Bucky and Steve had to drag him upstairs to eat and have a shower. Then we all agreed May should be the first one to speak to you when you woke up.'

'Is he still here?'

'I'm surprised I didn't have to pass him sat sentry outside your door,' he says with a half-smile. 'You want me to send him down?'

Peter takes in a deep breath. 'Maybe a bit later? I'm not sure I'm ready after…I'm just feeling drained.'

'Yeah alright,' Tony finally releases him and Peter flops back against the pillows on his bed. 'I also feel like we're avoiding the elephant in the room.'

'You mean the conversation you had with May?'

Tony sighs. 'Pete we're only doing this if you're one hundred percent sure alright? And until everything calms down with Thanos and the new Accords and Ross we're not announcing anything to anyone outside of the facility. Nothing really has to change, other than my name being on a piece of paper.'

'I meant it you know,' is the soft response after a brief moment of quiet.

'What do you mean, kid?'

Watery brown eyes look up at him. 'You really are better than any father I could have dreamed of.'

To hide his tears from the boy Tony pulls him into another hug, burying his face in the soft brown hair. 'There has never been a single moment since I met you that I haven't been proud of you.' Peter shakes his head, but before he can argue Tony cuts him off. 'You don't have to understand why it's true, Peter, just know that it is.'

He lets the teenager lie back against the pillows again. 'You need anything?' he asks.

Peter shakes his head. 'No I just want to sleep.' When Tony moves to stand up he feels a hand on his wrist. 'Don't leave?'

'I'm not going anywhere, kid,' he reassures him, 'just going to sit in the chair.'

Peter shakes his head, looking back down at his lap and fiddling with the bedsheet. 'Can you sit up here? I just- I need- I don't want to feel cold.'

'Scoot over,' he says, trying to push down the happiness filling up his chest. As Peter smiles and moves over to give him room to sit down at the head of the bed next to him; Tony's barely got comfortable when the teenager lays down and all but snuggles up into his side. A small smile plays on his face as he wraps an arm around him. 'Get some sleep, Pete, I'll be here.'

'Thank you,' is the sleepy reply. As the teenager slowly succumbs to sleep Tony gets FRIDAY to bring up some of his projects and gets to work, the boy's steady breathing replacing his usual rock music soundtrack.

* * *

Peter bolts upright, his heart racing and lungs gasping for air.

'Hey, you're alright,' a pair of hands on his shoulders ease him back down. 'You're alright, kid, come on, breathe with me.'

He whimpers, hating himself for making the noise, and buries his face in the warm body next to him; his whole body is shaking and he feels as though he could fly off the bed at any moment.

'I got you,' Tony's voice continues to soothe him, a hand running through his hair. 'You're alright, nothing's getting you here. I promise.' The mumbled reassurances continue until Peter can breathe easily again, but he continues to hold onto Tony as if he's the only thing keeping him grounded.

'Boss?' FRIDAY interrupts their calm. 'Wade Wilson is asking if it's alright for him to come down; he doesn't want to disturb if Peter doesn't want him here yet.'

Tony looks at him and Peter nods, trying to ignore the churning in his stomach. He's not entirely sure he's ready to face Wade yet after everything that the Symbiote said to him, but he knows it's unfair to keep the man away. 'Send him down, FRI,' Tony says, but doesn't move from where they've ended up against the pillows. 'I'll go when he gets here, unless you want me to stay. I suggest you tell him, Pete.'

'I don't think-'

'Hey, Steve and I danced around each other for far too long, and it took me getting kidnapped for us to finally admit it to each other. You and Wade had already started making a go of things before all this happened, don't let it ruin it and don't wait too long before telling him alright? Trust me, hiding it doesn't do anything except hurt in the long run.'

Peter just sighs and nods. 'I'll try…'

They don't say anything else until there's a tentative knock at the door. 'Come in, Wade,' Tony calls, and Peter takes in a deep breath before turning his head to watch as the door opens and Wade's large, muscular frame enters, somehow managing to look so completely unsure and out of place and so at odds with how he usually was when he was running around as Deadpool that Peter felt physical pain in his chest.

'Hey, uh, room service fired everyone apparently so they sent me,' he says, holding up a box of what smells like…

'You brought tacos?' he asks.

Wade shrugs. 'Seemed like a good idea at the time?'

'I'm going to go check on the others,' Tony says, gently releasing himself from Peter's grip. 'Remember what I said, kid,' he reminds him quietly before leaving the room, giving Wade's shoulder a reassuring pat on the way out.

There's silence as they both stare at each other, Wade's eyes roaming over every inch of Peter he could see, and the teenager could almost feel the path his eyes take, and looks down feeling self-conscious.

'Tacos?' Wade offers again, voice quiet and on the verge of breaking.

Peter sniffs, trying to hold back tears, and looks up at him. 'I'm sorry,' his voice is strangled and he reaches for the other man.

Quicker than he thought the man was capable of moving Wade is beside him and pulling him into his strong grip, and he holds on just as tightly, briefly he hopes he's not holding the man strong enough to crack any ribs. 'I thought I'd lost you,' Peter can feel the man's lips moving against the skin of his neck. 'You promised you wouldn't go where I couldn't follow.'

'I'm sorry,' he digs fingers into Wade's shoulders. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the things it made me say. None of it was true, Wade, I _swear_ it wasn't. I don't believe any of it.' When Wade doesn't respond he feels fear grip him. 'Wade?'

'Loki was telling us,' the man begins, and Peter feels him turn his head so he's facing away from him, but doesn't move away, 'that when a Symbiote joins with a host they look through their memories and find all the ways they can push the people closest to the host away so they're free to take over completely.'

'Yeah,' Peter swallows, 'he told me that too.'

'He said they don't tell lies,' Wade continues, 'not full lies. He says they tell half-truths, turning little pieces of truth into something that can believed.' The man finally pulls away and looks at him, tears forming in his eyes. 'Some of it _was_ true, Baby Boy. Even I know a lot of what you were saying was true, it's why I couldn't listen to any more-'

'Wade, what-'

'-and it's why I can't do this to you anymore, Baby Boy. I'm too fucked up, you deserve someone better than-'

'No!' Peter's eyes go wide, desperation seizing him. 'Wade don't you dare-'

'You think this is easy for me? You're the best thing to happen to me, Spidey, but I can't keep ruining you-'

'-you don't, Wade. You make me better than I've ever been. You helped me fight back against it. You-'

'-_please_, don't make this harder than it already is. This is fucking _killing_ me, Pete-' Wade looks down then, hands on Peter's shoulder's keeping him at a distance.

'I love you,' Peter cuts him off, reaching up to frame the man's face with his hands.

'-but I can't keep holding you back and-'

'Wade,' Peter tries not to roll his eyes at the fact that his big confession has just been completely ignored.

'-and even though your super family now seems to think I'm alright it's only a matter of time before they realise just how much of a fuck up I am and-'

'Wade!'

'What? I'm trying to do the right thing here and not hold you back and you're not listening to a word I'm saying, which, quite frankly is just plain rude, Spidey-'

'I really wish I had my web shooters right now,' Peter sighs. 'Did you hear what I just told you?'

'You mean when you were interrupting me?'

'Seriously?' Peter stares at the man in disbelief. 'You were so busy talking you didn't hear me tell you I _love_ you?'

'Well I'm sorry for not paying attention when you're being rude and…' Peter tries not to laugh when his words finally process in Wade's brain. His eyes go comically wide, and Peter smiles at him. 'Wait, what?'

'I love you, Wade,' he repeats the words, each time he says them is getting less and less scary.

'You- I- wait- what?'

'I,' Peter repeats each word slowly. 'Love. You. Wade. Wilson. And you even think about calling this off I'm going to stick myself to you until you see sense.' He sighs and rests his head against Wade's. 'Tony said you jumped after me. Why are you leaving me if you were prepared to do something like that?'

'I-uh- would you believe I temporarily lost my sanity through the emotional stress of nearly losing you?'

'I'm not sure you were completely sane to begin with.'

'True. Can we just forget this ever happened? Whatever I was thinking I promise to never do it again.' Wade presses a kiss to his lips. 'I love you too, Baby Boy.'

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone. I'm so sorry again for the late update. __Thank you so much to everyone for your continued support of this story. Do let me know what you think, especially about this chapter._

_All my love_

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek:_

'Hey, Baby Boy, you must be exhausted-'

'Don't you dare,' Peter warns the man, and Bucky tries very hard not to laugh. 'Don't you dare, Wade.'

'-because you've been running around my mind all day.'

'Get him out,' Peter pleads with Bucky, 'or get me out of here. I don't care which. I can't stay in this room any more, I'll go _mad.'_


	11. Cabin Fever

**Chapter 10 – Cabin Fever Courtesy of Deadpool's Humour**

'Hey Baby Boy?'

'Yeah Wade?' Peter doesn't look away from the screen as he presses closer to the man.

'Is that ass a parking ticket? Because it's got _fine_ written all over it.'

Peter bursts out laughing and looks up at Wade. 'Seriously?' It was the first thing Wade had ever said to him when they met. Back then he'd ended up a stammering mess, not entirely sure how to deal with the terrible pick up line. 'You've still got the _worst _pick-up lines ever.'

Wade puts a hand to his heart in mock distress. 'Petey-pie you wound me! My pick-up lines are the _best_.'

'That's debatable. Now shut up I want to watch Star Wars.'

'I hope you know CPR-'

'Wade don't.'

'-because you are taking my breath away.'

'Still terrible.'

'If you were a phaser on Star Trek-'

'Wade-'

'-you'd be set to stun.'

'We're watching Star _Wars_ and you bring out Star _Trek_ lines. Seriously?'

'Have you been covered in bees recently?'

'Wade _stop_.'

'-I just assumed, because you look sweeter than honey.'

'This is why I have to watch movies I've already seen with you.'

'I'm glad I remembered to bring my library card-'

Peter just groans and covers his ears.

'-cause I am totally checking you out.'

'Still terrible.'

'I think you're suffering-'

'I really am if this is _another_ terrible pick-up line.'

'-from a lack of vitamin _me_.'

'How do you even know all these?' Peter demands, giving up on watching the TV show they'd put on after Star Wars had finished and sitting up to look at the man. He notices the phone in the man's hand and his eyes widen. 'Have you been _Googling_ bad pick-up lines?'

'No?'

'You are such an idiot,' he sighs and settles back down.

'Hey Baby Boy?'

'Yeah Wade?'

'You're the reason Santa even has a naughty list.'

'Oh my god, get _out_ and take your terrible pick-up lines with you!' Peter hits the man with one of his pillows.

'Aww but I love this part!' Wade points to the TV and then kisses Peter when he's distracted looking at the screen. He decides to let the man stay a little longer.

'Hey Pete? How do the Avengers browse the internet?'

'If you've moved on to terrible jokes I swear, Wade Wilson-'

'On a compu-Thor!'

'That's it! I can't take any more!'

* * *

'Sergeant Barnes?'

'Yeah, FRIDAY?' Bucky says, looking up from his book.

'Master Peter is asking for your help, he says it's an emergency.'

Bucky's on his feet and running out of his room before the AI finishes speaking. 'Tell him I'm on my way. Is he alright? What's happened? I thought Wade was with him? If he's let anything happen to that kid I swear to god I'll-'

'-you say one more terrible joke, Wade. _One _more, and I swear I'll web you halfway up the Empire State Building and leave you there for a whole week,' Peter's voice cuts off his mutterings as it drifts up the corridor from the boy's hospital room.

'Aww, but you love my jokes!'

'What the hell is going on?' Bucky asks, entering the room. 'FRIDAY said it was an emergency?'

'Actually, Sergeant, I said that Master Peter said it was an emergency,' the AI interrupts.

'Whatever,' he waves the AI off.

'It is!' Peter insists. 'He's been coming out with nothing but terrible pick-up lines and jokes for _four hours_. He won't stop! Make him stop, Bucky. I'm going crazy stuck in here as it is without hearing one more-'

'Hey, Baby Boy, you must be exhausted-'

'Don't you dare,' Peter warns the man, and Bucky tries very hard not to laugh. 'Don't you dare, Wade.'

'-because you've been running around my mind all day.'

'Get him out,' Peter pleads with Bucky, 'or get me out of here. I don't care which. I can't stay in this room any more, I'll go _mad.'_

'You chose to go out with him,' Bucky points out, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

'You're supposed to be on my side,' Peter pouts.

'Maybe I would be if you weren't obviously enjoying the fact that Wade is in here with you,' he smirks in response.

'Steve's right you are a jerk,' the teenager grumbles as Wade chuckles behind him. 'Please can I get out of this room?'

'I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Pete,' Bucky looks to Wade for support with this, and can see the same inner turmoil reflected in the merc's eyes.

Fear flashes across the teen's face. 'The Symbiote is contained isn't it? It's not going to escape?'

'Of course it's secure,' Bucky frowns, 'why would you think we wouldn't make sure that thing is kept as far away from you as possible?'

'Then why can't I come out?'

'You still need to be resting, Baby Boy,' Wade argues, 'and the doc hasn't cleared you to be out of the medical wing yet.'

'I'm not asking to go into training,' Peter argues. 'I just want to sit somewhere different. Up in the common room with everyone else. Please?' He turns those puppy dog eyes first onto Wade, then onto Bucky, and even if he was still fully the Winter Soldier he knows he'd never be able to resist that expression.

'You carry him,' Bucky says to Wade, 'I'll check the corridor. Let's bust him out of here.'

'Read my mind, Snowflake,' the merc grins. The expression on Peter's face is worth it.

'Just make sure he's wrapped up in as many blankets as you can carry. I'll get the elevator ready,' Bucky says.

'I'm not going to break,' Peter huffs, 'I've got a better healing rate than you do!'

'You've also had an alien take over your body and _no one_ is taking any chances with you,' Bucky says in a tone that leaves no room for argument. The kid wisely shuts up and lets Wade wrap him up in about three blankets before picking him up and they make their escape.

* * *

'Uh yeah he should not be out of the medical wing before we get all the test results back,' Bruce's statement has Natasha looking up from the information on her tablet.

'What we organising jail breaks now or something?' she raises an eyebrow as Bucky is followed by Wade, carrying a much happier looking Peter.

'Please don't send me back to that room,' the teenager pleads as Wade continues to carry him towards the sofas. 'I'll go mad if I have to sit on that bed much longer.'

'He'll be fine, Bruce,' she says, laying a hand on the scientist's arm. 'As long as we're here to keep an eye on him we can take him back if anything happens. FRIDAY you alright to keep monitoring vitals and let us know if something happens?'

'Of course, Agent Romanoff,' the AI responds.

'Well don't expect me to help when Dr Hill blows up at you,' Bruce grumbles.

'Thanks Dr Banner you're the best,' Peter grins.

'Yeah no you put him over here, Wilson,' Natasha points to the empty space next to her on the sofa. 'You have had more than your fair share of time.'

'Definitely not enough,' the mercenary grumbles, but still gently places him next to her.

'How you feeling, Baby Spider?' she asks softly, placing an arm around the boy's shoulders and pulling him against her side.

'Better for being up here,' he answers with a sigh. 'I-now they've taken me off the medication whenever I sleep I just have nightmares. But when I'm awake then it's really hard to not think about what it wanted to do and-'

'Well,' she cuts him off before he can continue down that train of thought, 'how about we move team movie night to right now and we get everyone to join us when they're free? And we can find the worst movies imaginable and spend the whole time ripping the storylines apart and pointing out all the flaws in the so-called action sequences?'

'Can we order pizza?'

'We can order in whatever you want, kid,' she smiles into his hair.

'Even triple layer burgers with onion rings, hot sauce, chillis and extra cheese with donuts and five flavours of ice cream?'

'You can eat all that?' Bruce blinks in surprise.

Wade barks out a laugh. 'That's his usual mid-patrol snack, Doc.'

'_Snack?! _I don't think I've even seen Thor eat that much!'

'Hey can we get Chinese as well? There's this place in Brooklyn that does amazing dumplings. And there's a place in Queen's that does these incredible quesadillas, and I mean Wade and I have eaten a _lot_ of quesadillas but this place is seriously the best, and-'

Natasha laughs and holds him closer, placing a kiss in his hair. 'Anything you want, Pete,' she has to blink back tears, 'anything at all. I'm just glad you're here.'

'Yeah, me too,' he says quietly.

'Peter!' Natasha looks up as Wanda bursts into the room and runs over to their sofa with a huge smile on her face, visibly restraining herself from launching at the boy and managing to settle for a hug that doesn't quite manage to completely crush him. 'You're up here again. FRIDAY said something about Nat wanting to have movie night.'

'And we're getting take out,' Peter grins when the girl finally releases him.

'Oooo, hey FRIDAY? Can we get some of the ice cream delivered from that new place that opened in the city that Vis and I went to?'

'Of course, Miss Maximoff,' the AI responds, managing to sound a little exasperated. 'What flavours should I add to the order?'

'Err…'

'Just order a bit of each one, FRI,' Tony says as he walks in. 'Order in a bit of everything from everywhere mentioned, I'm sure we'll get through most of it throughout the day.'

'Boss, by my calculations you'd still have enough left over to feed most of the team tomorrow as well.'

'So we'll eat it tomorrow,' he waves her off. 'And if you even think about informing Dr Hill where Peter is before he goes in to his room for his routine check-up I'm donating you to a pre-school.'

'Yes Boss,' FRIDAY sighs. 'Should I inform the team to gather up here?'

'You mean you haven't already?' then he raises an eyebrow at Bucky and Wade. 'What are you two standing around for? Let's get this furniture moved soldiers!'

'What's wrong with cushions on the floor?' Bucky demands.

'You want to start another argument over that? Thanos'll have arrived by the time that's all been settled. Now get moving soldier or I'll make sure your next upgrade is bright pink.'

Natasha feels Peter shaking with laughter as they watch Tony boss the ex-assassin and mercenary around getting the furniture how he wants it ready for their movie marathon; Wanda's sitting the other side of him and the two women have him cocooned between them. She doesn't say anything when his shakes turn more from cold than laughter, just tightens her grip and pulls the throw from the back of the sofa to place over him; Wanda catches her eye over the top of his head and she gives the girl a small smile. Their Spider isn't out of the woods yet, but hopefully being surrounded by the whole team will help him recover a little quicker.

* * *

Natasha looks up from the tablet in her hands where she's been doing some more research as the boy curled up against her side begins to tremble. It's different to the cold shakes he's been getting, and judging by how deeply asleep he is she has a bad feeling she knows what's causing these. The entire team is still gathered in the common area round the TV, half empty take out boxes surrounding them as they let the movies continue to play in the background; some of them are watching the screen, and some, like her, are doing work at the same time. May is downstairs in a room getting some much needed sleep, having joined them for a movie or two.

'Another nightmare?' she looks up at Tony's quiet question, the tablet he'd been going through their studies on the stones.

'I'm guessing so,' she responds, equally quiet, and despite the low volume the whole team is suddenly focussing on the two of them.

'Shouldn't we wake him?' Rhodes asks as the boy starts moving around.

'Wait,' Wanda puts a hand on Natasha's arm and frowns a little in concentration. 'These aren't going to go away any time soon,' she continues, voice choking with emotion. 'It's…' she swallows and closes her eyes briefly, and Natasha realises she must be living it with Peter. The girl shakes her head and opens her eyes, a determined look on her face. 'Let me try something first.'

'You think you can stop them?' Wade asks, sitting up straighter in his chair.

'Maybe… not stop them from happening in the first place, but at least find a way to stop them once they start. Give me a minute.' Red light dances from her fingers and she places her hands either side of Peter's head. The teenager whimpers and thrashes around a little, causing Natasha to nearly lose her grip on him, before he settles down and relaxes into her hold again, breathing evening out.

'What did you do?' she asks the young woman as she removes her hands from Peter's head.

'Every time he has a nightmare, if he's in physical contact with one of the team,' she explains, 'an image of us will appear in his nightmare and help fight it off.'

'So just now he had the two of you in there?' Steve asks, looking equal parts confused and impressed.

Wanda just smiles and nods. 'Yeah. He's settling down again now.'

'What was happening?' Wade's quiet voice asks the question she's too nervous to.

Wanda closes her eyes and sighs. 'That's not for me to tell you.'

* * *

_A/N: Hey everyone. Hope you enjoyed this week's (on time!) update, as always please do let me know what you think. I'm not going to lie I had quite a bit of fun looking up bad pick up lines for Deadpool to use at the start of this chapter. _

_I'd be especially interested to hear what you guys think about Wanda being the one to try and find a way to help Peter with his nightmares. I find Wanda's character very interesting because, to me, she seems to be very determined when she has a goal to aim for (like in helping in Sokovia, helping Cap in Civil War) but the rest of the time she seems a bit directionless, which for me feels like that's because she's lost everything just before joining the team. During this series I feel like she's been finding her place both in the team as a fighter and also in her relationship with everyone, and also remembering to be a young woman with a family. I also get the impression that her brother looked after her quite a lot, and now she's able to reverse the role with Peter in this situation. She's also a lot more powerful in the comics than she currently is in the MCU, and I'm looking at this being the moment she starts to look more into what she is capable of. Let me know what you think though!_

_As always thank you so much for your continued support!_

_L x_

_Here's your sneak peek:_

_'I thought I made it perfectly clear,' Dr Hill sounds incredibly unimpressed as he enters the common area, 'that Mr Parker was not to be removed from the medical wing until the results of his tests had come back.'_

_ The whole team shushes him as one, and Tony tries not to laugh as the doctor takes a step back, raising his hands._


	12. Lingering Effects

**Chapter 11 – Lingering Effects**

'I thought I made it perfectly clear,' Dr Hill sounds incredibly unimpressed as he enters the common area, 'that Mr Parker was _not_ to be removed from the medical wing until the results of his tests had come back.'

The whole team shushes him as one, and Tony tries not to laugh as the doctor takes a step back, raising his hands.

'He's sleeping,' Wanda growls, 'and peacefully for the first time since he got back. You wake him up I don't care you're one of the best doctors we have I'll-'

'Alright, Wanda,' Steve cuts her off, 'I'm sure Dr Hill just wants what best for Peter the same as we all do.'

The girl huffs and sits back with her arms folded, still flanking the teenager in question with Natasha on one of the sofas.

'We've made sure FRIDAY was keeping track of his vitals, doc,' Tony says, going to stand near the man. 'If anything had changed even by a miniscule amount we would have had him down in the medical wing in an instant. He was going mad in the room and we thought it better to take him out on our terms, rather than letting him work out a way to escape by himself.'

Dr Hill sighs and removes his glasses to rub at his temple. 'I would have appreciated some warning. Regardless his test results have come back clear, he can stay out of the medical wing for good now unless he feels the need to return for a check. It would be good for him to start on some _light_ exercise, but make sure he doesn't overdo it.'

'I'll work with him, doctor,' Steve says, 'you know I won't let him push himself too far.'

Dr Hill nods. 'Alright. Let me know the moment something comes up. I'm still not sure how he doesn't have some lingering physical symptoms other than the fatigue.'

'We will, doc, and thank you,' Tony shakes the man's hand.

'It's my job, Mr Stark, but you're welcome.' With that he leaves them in peace.

'Are there usually any physical symptoms?' Steve asks Loki.

The god sighs and looks at the mug of tea in his hands. 'I don't know,' he admits, 'I've never met anyone who bonded with a Symbiote and survived.'

'I thought you said warriors in Asgard would go looking for them all the time?' Rhodes raises an eyebrow.

'They did,' is the short reply.

Tony tries to ignore the bad feeling in his stomach. 'Alright let's go over what we know about the stones. Anyone got any leads on _anything_ to do with them?'

'It's primarily gamma radiation,' Bruce answers from the table. 'Which means if you want someone to try and get rid of them, we need to get Hulk to come out, otherwise no one stands a chance of surviving the energy signature.'

'I believe there could be another way to destroy a single stone at a time,' Vision adds. 'I've been doing a lot of thinking on what this is that resides in my head, I believe if it is exposed to a source of energy similar to its own it could be destroyed.' He looks over at Wanda.

'No,' she says, 'no that could kill you, Vis.'

'We don't trade lives,' Steve cuts across the discussion in his full 'Captain' tone. 'But it might be worth bearing in mind for one of the other stones.'

'Thanos needs all the stones right? We could stop him if we destroy one now,' Rhodes points out.

'Or we could remove an opportunity to defeat him,' Loki points out. 'Each stone has its own unique power; yes by destroying one we remove the possibility of our enemy being able to carry out his plan. However we also destroy a possibility of us being able to defeat him. We should only destroy a stone if we have no other choice. I'm concerned about where this Symbiote came from and how long he has been here on Earth. From what he has told us he did not arrive the day that he bonded with the Spiderling.'

'Which means it's been bonded with something or someone else,' Natasha adds.

'He was held somewhere,' comes the quiet answer from the bundle of blankets next to her.

'How long you been awake, kid?' Tony asks, moving to stand behind the sofa. 'You need anything?'

Peter shakes his head and sits up. 'Not long, ever since Dr Hill left.'

'So you heard the important part that you don't have to go back right?' Bucky chuckles.

Peter smiles at him and nods. 'Yeah I heard that.' He turns back to face Natasha. 'He was held prisoner somewhere, by humans.'

'How do you know that?' Tony asks.

Peter frowns, as if he's not entirely sure how he knows it himself. 'I…I remember it. Or rather _he_ remembered it and I think I kept some of his memories. You know how he said he could look in my head? I think as the bond got stronger I was able to look into his as well, I just didn't realise it at the time. When you said about him being here I just…I just _knew_ the answer. It's like… it's like I've got someone else's memories in my head, but I can't picture them like I can my own memories, I just _know_ what happened in them.' He groans in frustration and puts his head in his hands. 'I'm sorry I know it sounds crazy.'

'No it doesn't,' Bucky's tone is a lot more sombre this time. 'That's what it feels like with the Soldier's memories.'

Peter looks up at him, and Tony can only describe his expression as hopeful. 'Really? You mean I'm not going mad?'

Bucky smiles sadly at him. 'I can't testify to your sanity, kid, but I can tell you that what you're feeling sounds really damn familiar.'

'What else can you tell us about where he was held captive?' Loki asks.

Peter frowns in concentration, head tilting to one side as he thinks. 'He doesn't know where it was he was kept, only that it was underground and it was difficult to escape. He managed to bond with one of his guards but had to abandon the body when he was out of the building where he was kept. He joined with a cat until he met me in the alleyway. The cat was beginning to die from the bond, it wasn't a suitable host. It was too weak. Couldn't sustain me, couldn't get enough food; too weak a creature to be of any use-'

'Pete!' Tony rushes round and shakes the boy's shoulders. His eyes have glazed over and he blinks in surprise when he's shaken and looks at him in confusion.

'What- what happened?' Peter's eyes go wide and his breathing gets faster. 'No, please, don't tell me he's still in my head-'

'Calm down, Spiderling,' Loki kneels next to Tony. 'Will you allow me to check? It will require me to look at your consciousness.'

'You mean you're going to go into his head,' Rhodes growls from behind them.

'You... you're going inside my head?' Peter's voice betrays his fear. Loki nods, but doesn't make a move to place hands on the teenager. Peter looks between him and the trickster, then takes a deep breath. 'You promise only to look? Nothing else.'

'Nothing else, Spiderling. It will be similar to running your hand over the top of a pool of water: it will stir the water but not delve in.' Peter looks back to him and then to Natasha and Wanda before back to the god. 'I swear to you I will not attempt to delve further into your mind. You will feel my presence and my intentions the whole time, Spiderling. I will lower my own barriers so you can see into me as I do into you.'

'You promise nothing more than looking?'

'I swear,' Loki nods.

'Alright,' Peter nods, 'but don't lower your barriers. If he is still in me, he could try and get hold of you.'

Loki studies the teenager for a few moments. 'Alright, if you are sure.'

'I'm not happy with-'

'It's not your decision,' Peter snaps at Rhodes, then the boy's eyes go wide as he realises what he's said. 'Oh god, Rhodey I'm sorry I don't know-'

'It's alright, kid,' Rhodes reassures him. 'And you're right it's not. I'm just letting you know I wouldn't have made the same one in your place.'

Loki places his hands on Peter's shoulders and closes his eyes. After a few minutes he releases the boy and stands up. 'There is no link to the Symbiote still in your mind, Spiderling. I believe this is merely a lingering effect from the bond only being newly broken, I suggest you avoid focussing on the creature's memories until a little more time has passed.'

'You're positive he's not there?' Peter asks, a little desperately. 'Because just now when I snapped at Rhodey…that was like how it felt when it first bonded with me.'

'There are lingering shadows of the Symbiote in your mind, Peter,' Loki explains, 'but there is nothing to suggest it is anything more than memories. They shall fade the longer you remain unbonded from it.' Peter nods but still looks unconvinced. 'Here, let me prove it to you,' Loki offers his hand to the boy. Frowning in confusion, Peter takes the offered hand, then his eyes go wide in surprise. After a couple of moments Loki releases his hand. 'Believe me now?'

Peter nods, eyes still wide in surprise. 'Yeah, I- thank you.'

'What just happened?' Sam demands.

'He shared some memories,' Wanda replies as the god looks away in what Tony assumes is embarrassment. 'I couldn't see what he shared, but I know what was happening.'

'Alright,' Steve speaks up as a couple of people open their mouths and Loki wanders towards the balcony, 'that's enough for now. We know that there are other people who may be after the Symbiote, but our focus still needs to be Thanos.'

'Fuck!' Wade suddenly jumps to his feet, running his hands over his head.

'Wade what is it?' Peter looks up worriedly at the man.

'HYDRA,' the man spits the word out. 'The motherfuckers wanted me to find something they'd lost, they kept coming to the bar to get me to take the fucking job and I didn't. I'd be willing to bet a considerable amount the fucking Symbiote was what they lost.'

'You mean the men that came to the bar when we were there?' Wanda asks. 'They were _HYDRA?_'

'That was the first time they visited,' Peter muses out loud. 'And they kept coming back but never managed to catch you there.'

'And you failed to mention this before, why?' Sam demands, arms crossed over his chest.

'I thought they only wanted me because they'd got hold of Francis' fucking research alright? They kept mentioning the mother fucker and I assumed it was something to do with that shit. If I'd know what they actually wanted you don't think I would have gone and hunted the bastard thing down and killed it?' the mercenary demands.

'Alright, enough!' Tony says. 'At least now we know who is after the alien. We've got more information that we did before. Thanos is still the bigger problem.'

There's a fizzing sound behind him.

'You may want to reconsider that assessment, Metal Man,' Loki sighs as Strange steps through his portal.

'So first you invite a threat to Earth in your home,' Strange says, gesturing towards the god, 'and I could overlook that seeing as we weren't exactly on speaking terms then. But now you have another threat, one that has taken control of one of your team members, and you don't think to let the Master of the _Mystic_ Arts know?' He notices Peter sitting on the sofa. 'And he's just being allowed to wander around?'

'Hey he's fine,' Bucky says, jumping to his feet, 'the Symbiote's been removed and it's being kept prisoner. What makes you think it's any of your business?'

'A _Symbiote?_ Had control of Spider-Man?' Strange looks around at the team as if they've all gone insane. 'And about a day after you've very publicly taken him in, he's now wandering around your facility?'

'He's clear of the Symbiote's power,' Tony snaps, 'or were you not listening Dumbledore?'

'And just how are you now an expert on possession?'

'I'm not,' he says, jabbing a finger in Loki's direction, 'but he's the one who managed to get the thing out of Peter, and I'm trusting his judgement seeing as he's the only one who has any prior experience with these things before.'

'You are trusting him?' Strange repeats slowly. 'Have you lost all sense?'

'It's in my interest as much as everyone else's that the Symbiote is secured,' Loki sighs, 'seeing as I'm the one who faced it and defeated it, I would be the first one it would come for should it be freed.'

'I'm not talking to you, I don't trust you. Just be glad you're still in this reality,' Strange snaps.

'Hey! You're in our home. Back off our guests,' Tony points a finger in Strange's face.

'I'm trying to keep Earth safe, something _you_ are also supposed to be doing. And I'm not leaving until I've ascertained the boy is no longer a threat.'

'You can't just come in here and start making demands like that,' Tony says.

'Alright let's calm down,' Natasha sighs. 'We apologise for not having alerted you to the nature of the threat, Strange, I'm afraid we were more concerned with Peter's health and it didn't occur to us. We promise it will not happen again.'

Strange nods his acceptance of the apology.

'What can we do to make you realise that Peter is no longer a threat from the Symbiote possession?' she asks.

'I'll need to scan the boy's mind to ensure he is free of possession.'

'No!' Peter scrambles behind the sofa. 'No more people in my head!'

Unfortunately everyone starts talking over each other at that point, to the extent that it's impossible to hear what is actually being said. Then there's silence.

Tony frowns, his mouth still working but no sound comes out; looking around at the other occupants he realises they're all in the same situation.

'Much better,' Loki sighs, coming back over to the group and kneeling down next to Peter, who has curled up in a ball next to the sofa with his hands over his ears. 'Spiderling?' the boy sniffs and looks up. 'The decision rests with you but I want you to think carefully about your answer. Are you willing for the magician to look through your mind?'

Peter looks over towards the former doctor, but the god brings his attention back to him. 'No, Spiderling, this is _your _decision, not the one you think everyone else would want you to make.' The teenager looks down at the ground and after a couple of moments, he shakes his head. 'Alright,' the trickster's voice is gentle and he places a hand on the teen's shoulder. He stands up and addresses the room. 'I'm going to remove the silencing spell. You,' he points at Strange, 'are not going to touch the boy today.'

'And just what makes you think I'm going to listen to a single thing you say?' Strange demands, now in control of his voice again.

'You don't have to listen to me, magician,' Loki replies, 'but if you want to touch him you'll have to fight me first.'

Ok Tony is the first to admit he was not expecting that response as Loki pulls his daggers seemingly from nowhere and stands between Peter and Strange.

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoy this week's chapter and Loki coming to Peter's defence against Strange. Though let's be honest he's probably looking forwards to trying to get one back on Strange after he showed him up when they met before._

_Thank you to those of you who left reviews, please do continue to let me know what you think, let me know if there's anything you want to see more of (I've had at least one request for a bit more Wanda/Vision time), and if there's anything in particular you want to see from the series in the future. I've already had some amazing ideas come through from reader suggestions so do keep them coming!_

_All my love,_

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek:_

'I can't in good conscience leave here without knowing for certain there is no threat to the world,' Strange counters, and throws a glowing whip towards Loki, tangling around one of the trickster's wrists. The two glare at each other across the room, pulling on the glowing light between them in a stalemate.

The click of a gun has everyone freezing where they stand

'Let him go,' Bucky's voice is deadly calm as he holds the gun to Strange's head.

'Buck,' Steve's voice has a warning tone.

'I ain't going to do anything, Stevie,' the man responds, 'as long as he stops his little magic show and leaves Pete alone. What's it going to be Doc?'


	13. Disagreements

**Chapter 12 – Disagreements**

Strange scoffs. 'You don't stand a chance against me, Loki.'

Before Tony can react Peter darts forward and tackles the god to the floor just as a portal opens up where his feet had been moments before.

'That's enough Strange,' Steve cuts across. 'Peter doesn't want someone else in his head and I can't say I blame him. You're going to have to trust that we wouldn't risk the safety of our team or the world by allowing him to be out of the hospital wing with the Symbiote still in control.'

'I can't in good conscience leave here without knowing for certain there is no threat to the world,' Strange counters, and throws a glowing whip towards Loki, tangling around one of the trickster's wrists. The two glare at each other across the room, pulling on the glowing light between them in a stalemate.

The click of a gun has everyone freezing where they stand

'Let him go,' Bucky's voice is deadly calm as he holds the gun to Strange's head.

'Buck,' Steve's voice has a warning tone.

'I ain't going to do anything, Stevie,' the man responds, 'as long as he stops his little magic show and leaves Pete alone. What's it going to be Doc?'

Before Strange can answer his cloak flies up, wrapping itself around Bucky's arm and dragging the man backwards. 'What the hell?' the ex-assassin fights against the material, Sam darting forwards to help.

'What is this thing?' Sam asks, as the two men struggle against the material.

'The Cloak of Levitation,' Strange answers as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

'Oh yeah because _that_ clears it up,' Bucky huffs as the material finally releases him, sending the gun spinning across the room.

It floats back towards Strange, where it promptly raps him on the knuckle of the hand that is holding the whip attached to Loki's wrist. 'Ow! What was that for?' he demands, scowling at it. Tony was sure if it had eyes the Cloak would have rolled them. Instead it gently makes its way across the room from Strange towards Peter.

'What the hell is your cloak doing Strange?' Tony asks him.

'If I knew the answer to that, Stark,' Strange replies, 'my life would be a lot less confusing. It's sentient and it doesn't always enlighten me as to its actions.'

'Wow this thing is cool,' Peter's voice is soft, and there's a small smile on his face as he reaches out towards the red material.

'Don't even fucking think about touching the damn thing!' Wade says, scrambling towards the youngster.

'Its fine, Wade,' Peter waves his hand in his partner's direction, eyes not leaving the material, 'it doesn't want to hurt me.'

'How can you be so sure?' Bucky asks. 'Damn thing tried to take my arm off.'

Peter just shrugs and taps the side of his head. 'No alarms.' As he touches the cloak it spins around him, turning him in a circle and making the teenager laugh before pausing to hover in front of him, part of it reaching forwards to touch his chest, almost like a hand. Seemingly satisfied it spins him around again before floating back towards Strange and settling back over his shoulders, then appears to start dragging him backwards.

'What are you doing?' the doctor asks it, looking between it and Peter as it makes some gestures towards where the portal had been that he'd arrived through. He frowns. 'You think he's safe?'

The cloak nods. Genuinely nods. Tony's trying not to freak out, but he _really_ wants to get his hands on that thing.

'You're positive?' Strange asks. Tony has to bite his lip not to laugh as the Cloak gives off the air of being _very _offended. 'Alright! I was just asking.' He sighs and turns back to the team. 'The Cloak deems he is free of any of the Symbiote's influence, and I am happy to accept that.'

'Wait. What?' Bucky demands. 'The Cloak spins him around and you're happy to take its word but not ours?'

'Basically,' Strange agrees.

'Thank you,' Natasha cuts across the argument, 'for not pushing Peter to have the examination.'

Strange nods and turns. 'I shall leave you in peace, then. Until next time.'

'Wait! Doctor Strange?' Everyone turns to look at Peter.

'Yes?'

'I-um…' the teenager fidgets, looking down at the floor before taking a breath and looking back up at the magician. 'Would you mind if I came to the Sanctum and you checked in a couple of days? I mean… I think between them Loki, Wanda and Vision would know if it _did_ still have a hold on me, but…well it'd be nice to have someone outside of the team check as well. Just to put my mind at ease. I mean if you don't mind of course? I know it's not all about me, but I can't really face having another person in my head right now. I just… it's starting to get hard to know what's me and what's someone else.'

Strange blinks a couple of times and then gives a small huff of a laugh. 'You know, kid, you seem to have learned something that my old teacher is still trying to teach me, and she's been dead for months.'

'Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'

Strange raises a hand. 'No apology needed. I apologise for my behaviour before.' He sighs and then continues. 'When I first joined Kamar-Taj there were a group of sorcerers who allowed a demon to possess them to grant them power and they nearly succeeded in destroying the world, when I realised you had been possessed by something I'm afraid my personal fears and experiences overrode my instincts from being a doctor. If you wish for me to search for lingering signs of possession when you are more recovered then I will be happy to oblige.'

'Thank you,' the teenager gives him a small smile as the sorcerer nods and exits through a new portal with a last nod at the team.

'Did you just get Doctor Strange on your side? After he literally turned up wanting your blood?' Bucky demands, looking at the teenager in shock. 'How do you _do _that?'

'It's called being polite and not holding a gun to someone's head,' Steve rolls his eyes. 'What the hell were you thinking, Buck? We need to keep our allies on our side, not shoot them and bring all of Kamar-Taj down on us!'

'I was thinking he needed to stop threatening Loki and Peter,' Bucky retorts, crossing his arms. 'And thanks for coming to help when that Cloak attacked me by the way. When were you going to step in? When it tried to smother me?'

'At least we'd have got some peace and quiet,' Wanda mutters.

'I think the big question we're all avoiding,' Wade points out, 'is: where the hell were you keeping that thing anyway?'

Bucky just smirks. 'Not going to spill all my secrets, Wilson. You'll just have to stay curious.'

'Which translates to: you probably shouldn't have asked,' Tony laughs.

'Just make sure the safety's on, Snowflake. Trust me it hurts when your balls get blown off.' Wade adds. Everyone laughs and Bucky just rolls his eyes.

'Do we want to know?' Wanda asks the mercenary.

Wade just shrugs. 'I lost count of the number of times it happened. Kind of doesn't matter when they just grow back.'

'You are such an idiot,' Peter shakes his head.

'Do I need to ask why we're still more interested in killing each other?' a voice says from behind Tony. The inventor turns and sees Fury walking in through the door.

'I think we should just be grateful he's no longer trying to kill anyone currently in this room,' Natasha smirks. 'He's making such good progress, we're very proud.' Bucky says something to her in Russian that has the redhead smirking wider.

'To what do we owe this pleasure, Nick?' Tony asks.

'Actually I'm here to speak to Spider-Man,' the super-spy fixes Peter with his eye.

'Me?' the teenager stammers. 'Is this about the Symbiote? Because we've definitely cleared up the fact that it's no longer inside me, Mr Fury.'

'No, well not entirely,' he replies, holding up a folder for them all to see. 'It's mainly this I want to speak to you about.'

'And that is what exactly?' Tony asks, going to stand next to Peter.

'The compiled report on the week of patrols the team spent with him,' Fury replies. 'I wanted to talk with Peter about the contents if that's alright with you?'

'I'm sure you won't mind if he wants someone with him?' Tony raises a challenging eyebrow, feeling rather protective of him in this situation. Fury wasn't the easiest person to deal with at the best of times, not that Tony thought for a second he'd try to hurt Peter, but the teenager had just been through a lot.

'I think that's Peter's decision don't you?' Fury raises his eyebrow in retaliation. 'What makes you think you have a say, Tony?'

'I think he does,' May Parker says, walking in from the elevator. 'Seeing as I've just finished signing the paperwork that makes him joint guardian of Peter with me.' Tony feels a smidgen of pride at the surprise on the spy's face. 'Now normally I'd insist I be the one to go in if Pete wants someone with him, but on this occasion I think Tony is the better suited person. As long as Peter wants someone with him. You going to argue with me, Mr Fury?'

'No ma'am,' Fury says, 'not on this occasion.'

'Good,' she turns to Peter. 'Pete do you want Tony to go with you or you okay going by yourself?'

Tony watches the conflict over the teenager's face and thinks he can guess at some of it: not wanting to appear weak in wanting someone with him, but also not wanting to upset Tony by saying he wants to go in by himself and face the music. He places a hand on Peter's shoulder, causing the teen to look up at him. 'I don't mind, either way, Pete. Just wanted you to know we're here if you want us, alright?'

Peter nods, then looks over to Fury and back to him again. 'I think… I'll be alright alone. Thank you.'

Tony smiles, genuinely proud of the kid for wanting to face this himself, squeezing his shoulder. 'Alright. You let FRIDAY know if you change your mind. And don't let old Eyepatch psych you out. He's really a big softie.'

Peter chuckles and Fury just rolls his eye. 'Come on, kid, this way,' the super-spy says, heading towards the briefing room. Peter pauses just long enough to look back at the team, and for a second Tony thinks he's going to change his mind and ask someone to go with him, before hurrying after the taller man.

'Man that kid has guts,' Wade shakes his head, 'I wouldn't want to face One Eyed Willie after facing down Doctor Strange.'

'That's because he's made of stronger stuff than the rest of us,' Wanda says, a hint of pride in her voice.

'Too damn right,' Tony agrees softly.

'I still can't keep up with all your nicknames for each other,' Loki sighs.

'Don't worry, Frosty, we'll make you a list,' Wade laughs.

* * *

'So most people,' Fury says once Peter walks through the briefing room door and he's shut it behind them, 'would decide that with the potential end of the world on its way to rest up and prepare for an alien invasion. You on the other hand decide getting possessed by an alien is a much better idea.' He puts the folder down on the table and takes a seat, gesturing for Peter to take one on the opposite side of the table.

'I didn't exactly go looking for it,' he counters, sitting down on the chair before his legs give out. He's still a little wobbly and the confrontation just now had really drained him. 'It happened when I was on patrol and by the time I realised what had happened it already had too much control for me to contact the team.'

'We'll come back to that later,' Fury says, 'for now I want to talk about what's in this report.'

'Errm…okay?' that stare is becoming really unnerving and Peter starts fidgeting under its intensity. 'So…what _does_ it say?'

'This is a report I had one of my people compile summing up everything about your suitability to be on the Avenger roster both from the reports from last week and from information gleaned from news stories and other sources-'

'What other sources?' he interrupts.

'If I told you that I'd lose part of my advantage,' the man dodges the question. 'Now you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?'

'Err… bad news?'

Fury flips open the file and takes out a couple of pages. 'So the bad news is: you can run off your mouth a little too much, and don't always appear to take things seriously-'

'That's so not true!' he protests, then cowers under the look he receives.

'You going to let me finish?'

'Yes, sir,' he mumbles.

'Right, so as I was saying: don't always appear to take things seriously, can be reckless by rushing into situations and can be easily distracted. There also tends to be a little more destruction than necessary when you get into big fights.'

_No more than any of the rest of the team,_ he grumbles to himself, but decides not to voice any more of his opinions.

'That being said,' Fury says, putting down the pages, 'you're one brave kid. I've seen grown men with years of military experience run away screaming from things you've faced down,' Peter looks up at this, feeling a little more hopeful. 'You seem to learn from your mistakes, and it appears the majority of your reckless behaviour comes from wanting to keep those close to you safe. You make sure you listen to those who are more experienced, like when you let Barnes lead during the hostage situation, and you're able to realise when you need help and aren't afraid to ask the team for it. I heard about the girl in the car accident after Romanoff had left you after patrol. That can't have been easy.'

Peter looks away and swallows at the lump in his throat as he shakes his head. 'I didn't realise Tony had told you about that.'

'He didn't. I saw the news coverage, and when I checked your phone records and saw you'd called Tony I put two and two together.'

'You can look at my phone records?' he demands. 'Dude why would you do that?'

'We're attempting to take down HYDRA, kid, I need to make sure I can get rid of anything I need to so they don't catch on too quickly.'

Peter suddenly feels very uneasy. Did that mean Fury knew who Matt was? He didn't dare ask though, in case he hadn't quite figured it out yet and his question confirmed his suspicions.

'Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, you also happen to have some interesting contacts: not just Deadpool but also Daredevil. Care to enlighten me as to who our horned friend is?'

'No,' Peter answers as firmly as he can, crossing his arms over his chest.

Fury attempts to stare him down, but Peter matches him with a frown of his own, suddenly very glad for the practise he's gotten from his stubborn-ass boyfriend. Eventually Fury nods. 'Alright. I must admit that's another point in your favour: you stick to your principles. No killing, no guns, staying true to your word. And not to mention you take the time to do the things other heroes wouldn't. I don't think you'd catch Iron Man sitting down and tutoring someone in his suit.'

'You'd probably be surprised,' he mutters, thinking over the number of times Tony had helped him with his homework.

'Just because he'd do it for you, kid, doesn't mean he'll do it for anyone else,' Fury chuckles. 'Somehow you've managed to get inside Tony Stark's walls, now I don't know how you managed it, but you did. And I can tell you: when he lets you in there is nothing short of attempting to murder him and anyone he cares about that is going to convince him to let you go.'

'I don't want to let him down,' Peter admits, not entirely sure why he's confiding this in Nick Fury of all people. 'Especially now he's agreed to look after me with May moving away. He's done everything for me and I don't really feel like I've given much back. To any of them really.'

Fury studies him for a few moments. 'You know I was the one who brought the original team together. Tony's always been a joker, but it's very rare you'll see him give a real smile. Steve's been through seven hells and back fighting in the war, losing his friend and the first person he'd fallen in love with, coming back to a time that had moved on and most people he knew had died, and one of the first things he has to do is take on aliens. Natasha was trained by the KGB, and she's one of the deadliest assassins and spies I have ever come across; she was trained not to care about anything or anyone. Clint was raised in the circus, with a ringmaster who was brutal and corrupt; he became such a good shot because he had to in order to survive. Bruce had shut himself off from the whole world because he was terrified of hurting anyone with his alter ego. Thor was from a different planet, unsure whether his brother would ever want to return with him or if he could be saved. Loki himself was what you'd call your text book villain.

'Every single one of them, kid, seems to think you are something special. Even Bruce has started to let you in, and Bruce doesn't open up to people easily. I walk in to see _Loki_ defending you.'

'So? That just means he doesn't think I can look after myself.' _Just proves I'm not really good enough to help the team,_ he thinks bitterly, biting his bottom lip to try and keep the tears at bay.

'Humility is all well and good, kid, but don't let it turn to self-doubt. You start doubting yourself you start second guessing your moves and that's when you freeze in the middle of a situation. I don't want you to prove me wrong about putting you on the roster.'

'Wait, what?' Peter looks up at the man, eyes wide. 'What do you mean-'

'As of today, Spider-Man is officially added to the Avengers roster. Congratulations kid, you'll be called on to help in missions when it's deemed appropriate. For the meantime, until we get the Accords sorted, we'll keep this away from the public; once the new Accords are signed, we'll make a public announcement. Welcome to the Avengers, kid.'

* * *

_A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry I'm a day late I got called in to do some extra shifts this week and I completely lost track of the days._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter - our Spidey is all grown up and part of the Avengers. And Bucky is defending Loki, will wonders never cease?_

_Please do let me know what you thought of this chapter! I'm desperately trying to finish up the chapters for the next special and finish tweaking the plan for the sequel so not feeling as quite on top of writing this as I usually am haha._

_Also I've had a request for another Christmas story this year, so I'm thinking of doing the same as what I did last year: using the characters and some of what has been happening in the main story but set the Christmas story outside of this series. Let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like to see from it (I know it's early but I'm trying to be prepared...)_

_Thank you so much to all the people who have left reviews, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the support and comments!_

_Love always,_

_L x_

Here's your sneak peek:

Peter shrugs and nods. 'You're fun. Plus you let me face more without panicking than the others do.'

Loki chuckles. 'I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a good thing or not.'

'Hey Loki? Will you take me to see the Symbiote?'


	14. Midnight Meetings

**Chapter 13 – Midnight Meetings**

'So?' May asks as Peter and Fury re-enter the common area.

Peter still looks a little dazed as he answers. 'I'm an Avenger.'

There's a chorus of shouts and cheers, over which Bucky can be heard laughing, 'As if there was any doubt!' May, Tony notices, looks torn between being proud of her nephew for making the team, and worry over what this means. While the teenager is distracted by Wade spinning him round in celebration, and some of the other team members going over to offer their congratulations, he makes his way over to the woman.

'He won't be officially on the team until we can ensure we're safe from outside influences,' he reassures her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, 'and I swear to you I'm going to do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to him.'

'And how quickly is that going to get you killed?' May counters, voice quiet. 'You can't promise to keep him safe, Tony, so don't try.'

'He's safer being part of the team than being alone,' Steve enters the conversation, putting a comforting arm around Tony's waist. 'We all look out for each other, Ms Parker, and now he's officially a part of that.'

'I know, I'm just…I'm scared,' she admits.

'So am I,' Tony admits, 'but at least now he has every single person in this room looking out for him rather than just me.'

'Wilson,' Fury barks over the noise, 'I've got a job for you.'

'What do you need?' Wade and Sam answer in unison.

'Seriously?' Fury rolls his eye. 'Deadpool I've got a job for you.'

'Aye aye, Pirate Captain,' the merc salutes and Tony resists the urge to snigger at the look on Fury's face.

'I'm going to regret this,' the super-spy sighs, 'I've got the location of one of HYDRA's bases, unfortunately it's only a smaller one but we need it taking out. Go in, get as much information you can, and clear it out. Think you can do that?'

'You mean cause as much mayhem as possible? I thought you'd never ask!'

'Why Wade?' Peter asks, a small frown on his face.

'I don't want them to know we're onto them just yet,' Fury responds. 'Deadpool is the only person in this room not officially part of the Avengers.'

'I'm not,' Loki points out.

'That is _supposed_ to be on this planet,' Fury scowls at the trickster. 'Plus he's a merc so it's not going to have them automatically pointing the finger our way if he goes in and takes out the base.'

'You mean you want him to kill everyone in there?' at Peter's question the atmosphere gets a little tense. Tony knows he isn't too happy with that side of Wade's life, but he accepts it as he knows the merc is trying to change.

'Whether you like it or not,' Fury's tone leaves no room for argument, 'your _boyfriend_ just so happens to be the best in the business-'

'I take offense to that statement!' Bucky interjects.

'You weren't a merc, you were an assassin, stop being such a baby,' Natasha rolls her eyes, and Tony has to wonder when this became a normal conversation to be having in his life.

'-and is a one man army all by himself. He's the only person outside of this team I trust to get this done and that, quite frankly, is worrying enough, at least I don't have to worry about him being killed on the job.'

'Rather take this kind of work from you than those fuckers anyway,' Wade cuts across the conversation as Peter opens his mouth to say something else. 'I take it this is to do with the shit storm with the new Accords right?'

'Yes. You leave tomorrow morning, I'll send you the details.'

'Why so soon?' Peter asks, and Tony feels bad for the kid. He'd just been through hell and back and now one of his rocks was being sent into a shit storm just as he was starting to get his feet back under him.

'Sooner this gets done the sooner we can get on with the Accords. Any other objections?' Fury asks.

'Sooner I get it the sooner I can repair the holes in the suit,' Wade quips. 'Send me the info tonight, I'll look it over.'

'Just because you can heal doesn't mean you should get hurt,' Tony barely catches Peter's response, he mutters it so quietly.

'Hey Fury? When's the latest he can leave?' Tony asks, pulling up a couple of plans on his watch.

'What now? Is this going to happen every time I ask someone to do something?' Fury sighs.

'No, I just want to know how long I have to get something together,' he responds. 'Hey FRIDAY how long till we can get this made?'

'Calculated time is 48 hours, boss,' his AI responds.

'What if we cancel the other projects and push this to the front?'

'We could get it done within 18 hours,' comes the response.

'Think you can give me until tomorrow evening?' he asks Fury.

'What are you planning?'

'Improvements to his suit,' Tony explains, pulling up the schematics. 'Don't worry I'll keep the design,' he grins at Wade, 'but this way it'll be stronger so you shouldn't have as many bullet holes to worry about.'

'You don't have to do that, Tin Can,' the man shakes his head, 'as much as I appreciate it, it's not like it does any lasting damage and you've got other people that you need to keep alive.'

'Pete's right, Wade,' Tony looks back at the schematics and makes a few adjustments before sending it to the production line, 'just because you can heal doesn't mean you should get hurt.'

'But-'

'Wade, shut up and take it,' Wanda says, raising a glowing finger 'or I'll make you.'

'Can she do that?' he mock-whispers to Peter.

'You're such an idiot,' the teenager replies.

'Alright tomorrow evening,' Fury nods, 'it won't do any harm to give him some extra time if it means he's got more protection. What you doing for him?'

'Similar to Steve's uniform,' he replies, 'it's the easiest to alter and produce. I'll look into something more when I've got the time.'

'Alright, I need to head off. Good luck, Wilson, I look forwards to seeing what you bring back.'

As the team say goodbye to Fury and begin to head out Peter comes over and gives him a hug. 'You alright, champ?' Tony asks quietly into his hair.

Peter nods. 'Thank you,' his reply is quiet and Tony almost misses it.

'Nothing to thank me for,' he shrugs. 'It's my job to make sure this team has the best equipment after all.'

The smile Peter gives him is worth more than every dime that's ever been in his bank account.

'I'm turning soft,' he mutters to Steve as the teenager takes his aunt by the hand and over to the sofas.

'I won't tell anyone,' Steve chuckles, pressing a kiss to the side of his forehead before joining the rest of the team.

* * *

Peter's eyes fly open, and he stays motionless waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light and trying to calm his breathing. Eventually his brain is able to take in the outline of his room at the facility, the sound of Wade's breathing behind him and the feel of the man's arm over his waist help to calm him and banish the remains of the nightmare.

Ever since waking up and having his conversation with Loki in the medical wing he's found it almost impossible to fall asleep without someone next to him; he's not sure if the team is aware that Wade came to his room last night, but he's fairly sure Tony knows from FRIDAY even if the others don't. Though with the number of spies and mind reading abilities it'd be a miracle if only Tony was aware.

Now he's awake and calm again, his body is thrumming with energy and he's fairly certain he's not going to get to sleep again any time soon. The ban on him doing any form of exercise, even though it's only been for a day or two, has meant he's even more fidgety than normal, and his disturbed sleeping isn't helping.

Managing to wriggle out of Wade's iron-like grip he creeps over to the door and walks out, deciding to get himself a drink from the common area to try and help settle his nerves. The corridors are empty as he makes his way upstairs, it isn't until he exits the elevator that he sees another person.

Loki is sitting on one of the sofas, a book open in one hand and a cup of something steaming in his other; he looks up as Peter enters. 'Nightmares?'

He nods in answer. 'And now I'm too restless to get back to sleep. I've got too much energy since I've been put on an exercise ban. Which is just stupid by the way, surely it's better for me to keep up with my exercise so my muscles don't start wasting away.'

'I hardly think your muscles would disappear after less than 48 hours of being able to exercise,' Loki half-smirks, 'but I appreciate the frustrations at being confined to bed rest. I myself was never very good at it, especially as a child. Although I was able to blame Thor when I was caught as he was usually the one to help me sneak away; he was just as impatient at being confined to a room as I was, and as he was usually the one sent to entertain me you can imagine how well that went.'

'It sounds like you two used to be really close,' he says, 'I used to wish I could have a brother or a sister growing up. Mom and Dad used to travel a lot for their work so they'd leave me with Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and since we all lived in New York it wasn't like I wasn't still near my friends. But none of them really understood what it's like to be left behind all the time, even though Ben and May were awesome to stay with and I really enjoyed it, it was still hard always having to say goodbye to my parents. I just wanted someone who knew what it was like that I could talk to.'

'We were very close as children,' Loki's tone is slightly wistful as he puts his book down, 'inseparable really. But as we grew older Thor became friends with Sif and the Warriors Three, and they did not appreciate my magical abilities as much as he did and, as such, he began to tease me about them too. At first I ignored it, but it started to drive a wedge between us I didn't even realise was there until it was too big to be ignored and I could see no way to repair it. I do not believe Sif was ever my biggest fan either, she saw the influence I had on Thor and how he would listen to my counsel over others at times and she envied that. It was painfully obvious she wished to be his queen and she knew I would not support it I suppose, and so encouraged this wedge between us.'

'But he so obviously thinks the world of you,' Peter says, confused as to why the god could think these things.

'Just because I believed it to be, does not mean it was true. It was how I viewed what was happening, instead of sitting and speaking to Thor about it. My pride got in the way: I did not want to admit how much my brother's approval meant to me, and so I allowed the words of the warriors to be louder than the words my brother spoke to me.' The look Loki gives him is piercing. 'Similar I imagine with you and the words of the Symbiote sounding louder than the words your team and family have been saying to you.'

Peter looks away and goes to the kitchen to make himself a drink. 'I guess,' he says when the silence becomes too long for him to cope with.

'Bring your drink here, Spiderling,' Loki's voice is soft, 'you said earlier you wished for someone as a child who could understand what you were going through. You are not the only one here to have had another being in your mind; let us discuss what it is that is worrying you. With no one here to overhear what you do not want to go any further.'

'I thought you were supposed to be a crazy super-villain who wants to take over the world, why are you being so nice to me?' he asks as he takes his hot chocolate over to the sofa opposite Loki.

The god chuckles. 'Perhaps I am merely making you lower your defences.'

Peter smiles and shakes his head, tapping his forehead with a finger. 'Spidey-sense says otherwise. You don't have to tell me, I'm just surprised is all.'

'So am I,' Loki admits. 'I don't like to get attached to people or places, it hasn't turned out well for me in the past.'

'Maybe this time will be different?'

'Perhaps,' Loki says slowly.

'Hey Loki? What was his name? The voice in the memory you showed me? The one who made you think people only liked you because of Thor.'

Loki is quiet for a while and Peter is about to apologise for the question when he answers, green eyes clouded with remembered pain. 'He's known as the Ebony Maw,' is the quiet reply, 'he is one of Thanos' lieutenants.'

'He was…from what you showed me he seems horrible,' his own voice is just as quiet. 'How did you survive?' When Loki had touched him earlier to convince him that he was free of the Symbiote's control he had shared some of his memories with him. Memories of being taken prisoner after falling from the Bifrost and his mind being bent to the will of the creature Peter now knew was called Ebony Maw; memories of trying to take Earth under that control because Thanos wanted the Tesseract; of the control being broken and him still feeling the urge to continue Thanos' will and how, over time, it had finally left him.

'I am honestly unsure,' is the honest reply, 'I did not expect to survive except that the Maw found my links to Asgard and Earth and some of the Infinity Stones intriguing and took this information to his master. Then it was making them think they had more power over me than they did which ensured I was then let loose and was able to escape them.'

'By being taken prisoner by the Avengers,' Peter chuckles.

'They are certainly better jailors than my previous ones,' comes the reply, a small smile playing on the dark haired god's lips.

'How long was it before you stopped feeling the urge to follow what Thanos wanted from the mind control?'

Loki looks thoughtful. 'It took a long time; certainly it was after Thor and I faced the Dark Elves and I sent Odin to Earth, but by the time he returned to Asgard and Ragnarok took place it had faded completely.'

'You think it'll take that long for me to stop feeling this link to the Symbiote? To stop getting angry at people?'

Loki sighs. 'I'm unsure; I've never known someone to survive a breaking with a Symbiote, Spiderling, so I do not know how long before you lose all links with it. You may never lose all of them.'

Peter sighs and looks into his mug. 'I suppose it's just something I need to learn to control then, right? Kind of like when I first got my powers.'

'You will not be alone as you do; you have the whole of this team behind you, as well as your slightly irritating partner and your other friends and family.'

'Will you be here as well?' Peter's not sure why he asks the question, but it's out of his mouth before he can take it back.

Loki's eyebrows nearly disappear into his hairline. 'You would want me to?'

Peter shrugs and nods. 'You're fun. Plus you let me face more without panicking than the others do.'

Loki chuckles. 'I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a good thing or not.'

'Hey Loki? Will you take me to see the Symbiote?'

Loki studies him for a few moments. 'We will have to ensure Tony is happy for you to do so, but if he is then yes I will come with you.'

Peter smiles. 'Thank you.'

'Hey, you two alright?' Steve walks out of the elevator.

'Yes, thank you Captain,' Loki responds, 'I was reading when Spiderling came to get a drink.'

'I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep,' he explains at Steve's worried look. 'I thought a drink might help.'

'Nightmares?' Steve asks.

Peter nods. 'But when I was awake I had too much energy to get back to sleep.'

'We'll start you back on an exercise plan tomorrow to try and help with that,' the soldier gives him a supportive smile. 'You sure you're alright, Loki?'

The god smiles and nods. 'Yes, thank you. I don't need as much sleep as you mortals and was taking the opportunity to catch up on some reading. I do believe I shall retire for the night now, however. Good night both of you, I shall see you in the morning.'

The two say goodnight and watch the god leave. 'You really were worried about him,' Peter points out when the elevator doors close on the god.

Steve shrugs. 'Pete he saved your life, the whole team is feeling a lot more friendly towards him than before. He's done a lot towards proving himself.'

'Good,' he replies, 'I like him.'

Steve chuckles. 'I know, kiddo. You're giving more than just Tony grey hairs with your choices in favourite people you know.'

'I can look after myself,' Peter pouts.

Steve chuckles and comes to sit next to him. 'We know, Pete, and no one doubts your abilities. But we worry about each other, that's what we do as part of a team, and you've been part of that for a while. With you needing to keep your identity secret there's just more reasons for us to worry with you than there is with the others, you know? We just don't want you to have to reveal your identity before you're ready. Plus we all love you, kid. We're going to be lost if something like this happens to you again. It's purely selfish, I swear.'

Peter leans his head against Steve's shoulder and sighs, closing his eyes. 'Thanks, Cap.'

'Anytime, kid. If you fall asleep I'll carry you back to bed, alright?'

Peter just hums in agreement and snuggles closer to the soldier's warm body, already feeling sleep creeping back up on him.

* * *

_A/N: Hello everyone. First of all I am so so sorry that I didn't update last week.. Basically I gave myself concussion and couldn't look at screens properly for quite a few days and by the time I could I thought it would be better to just wait and do a double update this week. It also means I haven't responded to any of you wonderful readers who have left reviews yet, but I'm setting aside tomorrow afternoon to make sure I respond to everyone._

_Again I am so sorry about missing the update last week. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next one!_

_Love,_

_L x_


	15. Facing Fears

**Chapter 14 – Facing Fears**

'You sure you're ready for this?' Tony asks as they stand outside of the containment area.

Peter nods and sucks in a deep breath. It's the next evening, Wade had left for his mission just over an hour ago and now Peter is stood flanked by Loki and Tony waiting to face the creature that had tried to take over his body.

'Alright,' Tony sounds like he doesn't fully believe him, but thankfully doesn't push it. 'I'll be right outside, and Loki's going in with you in case it tries anything funny. You want out you just say.'

'I know. I'll be alright, I just… if I never face him I'll never be able to stop being scared of him,' he replies.

Tony squeezes his shoulder in support and nods. 'I shall ensure nothing happens to him,' Loki says from his other side.

'Thank you,' the inventor says quietly.

'I'm not _completely_ defenceless you know,' he grumbles between them.

Loki chuckles. 'No you are not. However you shall have to forgive Tony as I understand that as soon as you become a father figure to someone the first thing you must do is to be overly worried about every little thing that happens to them.'

'Been doing that for _years_,' Tony grumbles, ruffling his hair. 'Trust me, Lokes, you start taking an interest in this one and even you will be getting grey hairs.'

'Can we go see the alien now?' he huffs, cutting off the conversation in the hopes of avoiding any more embarrassment.

'We are ready when you are,' Loki says to Tony; the inventor nods and goes to stand by the control panel. He presses some buttons and the door in front of them slides open; Loki walks in and Peter hurries along a few steps behind, not daring to look at Tony's face as he walks past the man. He's not sure he could have held on to his courage if he had.

The sight that greets him is a large humanoid black shape, a grinning mouth filled with needle sharp teeth and eyes that are large and white, similar in shape to the eyes on his suit, staring back at him.

'Ssso,' it hisses, 'now you bring presssciousss Peter to ssspeak to me? You mussst be getting dessperate.'

'He is here at his own request you dull creature,' Loki responds, his tone bored, 'personally I would rather not listen to your drivel any more, but someone had to make sure you behaved yourself.'

'You mean you are the only one who ssstandss a chanccce againssst me.' It turns large eyes back to look at him. 'Not even preciousss Peter here could sstand up to me. No matter what they all may sssay about his abilitiessss. He wasss as defenccelessss againsssst me asss any of them would be. Even he sssuccumbed to me.'

'Yes I did,' Peter responds, voice quiet as he steps past Loki to stand close to the glass of the Symbiote's prison. 'I lost to you, and I probably would again if you ever got hold of me. I'm not here to prove that I'm stronger than you, I don't need to do that to sleep at night. I'm here because I need to face you and see you for what you are rather than have you as a faceless and nameless monster.'

The Symbiote laughs a horrible hissing laugh that has Peter resisting the urge to take a step back. 'You forget, Peter, I've been inssside your head. I know all about those fearss of yourss that you keep sssso hidden. I've been a part of you and now I will alwaysss be a part of you. You will _never_ be able to get rid of me.'

'I know,' his voice sounds weak even to his ears. 'I think I knew that already, ever since you were gone from my head I knew you'd always have a piece of you in there. That's where this anger has come from, and it's something I'm going to have to learn to control just like I did with my powers. And I will. Steve says I can be as stubborn as Tony when I want to be.'

The Symbiote doesn't seem sure how to respond to that, so he continues.

'I said when I first spoke to you I would think of a name for you, and I have you know. I tried to work out what your name was from your memories that are still here in my head, but I couldn't work out how to say it. Venom. That's the name I'm giving you, because if you have a name you're not quite so scary anymore.'

'You think giving me a name you can pronouncccce will help you be rid of me?' Venom demands.

'No,' he shakes his head, 'but it'll help me come to terms with everything that happened.'

Venom laughs at him again. That horrible hissing laugh. 'You'll never really fit with them, you know that don't you Peter? I've sssseen you know it in your head. You'll never be a true sssuperhero. You let your uncle die, you let Tony be captured and tortured, you let me hurt the team, how long until sssomeone elssse diesss for your missstakesss? How long before they all realissse how truly weak you are? How long until they realissse how truly ussssselesss you are?'

'You're wrong you know,' he sets his jaw and meets Venom's eyes. 'Everything you've just said is everything I'm scared of hearing and you know that. But they've proved us both wrong. Mister Fury has offered me a spot on the team; the team has proved to me they want me here and they care about me and they don't care that I've been weak these past few days. They wanted me to know they'll be there when I need them most and not to worry about being weak in front of them. That we all need support at times. And most importantly? Tony's become my legal guardian. He wants to be a father to me, and I'm going to do everything I can to deserve that.'

'You'll never be the sssson he desservesss.'

'Maybe not. But I'm going to do everything I can to be as close to it as possible, and I'm not going to let my fears stop me from doing that.' He turns to Loki. 'I'm ready to leave now.'

The god nods, and gestures for him to go first. As they reach the door Peter turns back to Venom. 'One thing you might want to think about Venom? I may have kept a piece of you from our time being bonded, but that means you have a bit of me as well.'

As they leave and the door closes behind them, Peter finds himself pulled into a tight hug. 'I'm so proud of you,' Tony says into his hair.

'Thank you,' he whispers, hugging back as tight as he dares.

'You did well, Spiderling, now I think you should rest. I believe the Captain wants to try some exercises with you after dinner.'

* * *

'Dude you wait _this _long to give me a call? Not cool, man, not cool at all.'

Peter winces at Ned's unimpressed tone down the phone. 'I know I'm sorry.'

'I mean you freak out at school, then next thing I know you're not in school and the news is showing you getting taken in by the Avengers, then you text to say you're alive but you're recovering from something and you'll call me soon. What's going on, Peter?'

'Ned I'm so sorry,' Peter says, then proceeds to explain about Venom to his friend.

'You got possessed by an alien? Dude that's cool. And terrifying. Did it plant eggs in your chest?'

'Ned I literally just told you everything, no I do not have alien eggs in my chest.'

'I bet that's what John Hurt thought in Alien. Then his dinner was ruined.'

'Dude come on! You're not making me feel any better about the whole thing.'

'Right sorry, just wanted to check. So when you coming back to school?'

'Umm…I'm not sure. I've not discussed it with Tony yet.'

'What does May say? She's not going to want you off for too long you know.'

'Uh, yeah there's something else I need to tell you,' Peter says, preparing himself for his friend's reaction.

'Oh please don't tell me you've become permanently attached to it and now half of you is alien and half of you is human. Well Spider-Man human.'

'What? No! This is nothing to do with the alien, this is about May.'

'Is she ok?' Ned sounds worried.

'Yeah, yeah she's fine. She's moving with Stuart upstate.'

'You're moving away? Are you going to be able to still be Spider-Man? Are you going to have to tell him about being Spider-Man? Are you still going to be able to visit the facility and work with the team? What about Wade?'

'Ned let me finish,' Peter sighs. 'I'm not moving with May, I'll be staying here at the facility.'

'You're moving in with the Avengers? That's amazing! Is May going to have to sign some permission forms or something to let you stay there or something seeing as you're not an adult and everything?'

'Errm… kind of? Tony's going to be my joint legal guardian with May.' Peter frowns when there's no reply from the other end of the phone. 'Ned? You still there?'

'Oh my god! Tony Stark adopted you! Dude that is so incredibly awesome!'

Peter laughs quietly and leans back on his bed and let's his friend continue to explain every single reason why this was the best thing to have happened in their lives. 'Ned you can't tell anyone at school alright? We're trying to keep it on the down-low until a load of stuff is sorted out.'

'You mean with the changes to the team?'

'Yeah,' Peter decides not to mention the potentially world-ending alien that's on his way as well. There's only so many secrets Ned should be trusted with. 'So anyway I was phoning to see if you and MJ wanted to meet up for the day tomorrow? Tony thinks it might do me some good to get out of the facility for a bit and seeing as I haven't seen you guys in ages he's offered to take us all out for the day.'

'Tony Stark is wanting to take the three of us out for the day? Dude do you realise how awesome the words that just came out of your mouth are?'

Peter laughs. 'Well he wants to take the four of us out. We're introducing Loki to the world in a non-taking-it-over kind of way. Plus he needs a new wardrobe and Tony isn't accepting the fact that he can just change his clothes with magic.'

'We're taking a psychotic Norse god shopping?'

'Yep. Tony gave him the choice of us or Natasha. Loki chose us. I think Nat was disappointed.'

'Hey if Tony is your legal guardian does that mean Captain America is like your step-dad?'

'I'll see you tomorrow, Ned,' Peter sighs, 'I'll text you the time we'll pick you up. Can you let MJ know? I'm still getting tired pretty quick and Steve had me doing a work out this evening.'

'Sure thing, I'll see you tomorrow.'

When Peter hangs up he realises he has a problem. With Wade gone there's no one to share the bed with him and unless he has someone with him the nightmares are horrendous and keep waking him up in cold sweats.

Just as he's beginning to panic there's a knock at his door. 'Hey,' Wanda says, opening the door and poking her head in. 'Vis is busy with the science triplets looking at the stones again. You fancy putting some films on in my room and having a movie marathon till we fall asleep?'

He tries to blink away his tears of relief as he nods, padding after her as she beckons for him to follow. They're halfway through the first film by the time he feels his eyelids getting heavy.

'Thank you,' he murmurs as he snuggles down into the blankets. He hears her soft goodnight in reply before sleep claims him completely.

* * *

_A/N: Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed both of these chapters and I am so sorry again for missing last week's update. Thank you to everyone who is sticking with this series and especially to everyone who leaves a review - I do love reading them all. I must say this instalment seems to be dividing opinion much more than any of the others and it's interesting seeing what people have to say._

_I've now finished writing the next special (after having to catch up from almost a week of not being able to write) and am now starting on the sequel. So there's still much more to come!_

_Thank you so much for your continued support. All my love as always,_

_L x_

_And of course here is your sneak peek:_

The group sets off down the road, but some raised voices behind them has Peter turning to see what's happening. There's a group of four boys, by the looks of things a little older than him, standing around an older lady and, from what he can hear, they're trying to get her to give them money to get the bus home. And they aren't taking no for an answer. He's about to ask Tony if they should do anything when he catches sight of the woman and hears the voice. He knows that grey hair, sticking out in all directions as if she's stuck her finger in a plug socket, and he knows that heavily accented voice.


	16. Day Trip

**Chapter 15 – Day Trip**

'Are you completely sure he's not going to try and take over New York?' Ned whispers to him as they and MJ mess around with some of the sunglasses on display and take silly pictures of each other on their phones.

'Ned he saved my life. He was under mind control when he tried to take over the world before. How many more times: he is _not_ going to try and take over the world whilst Tony is getting him measured for a suit,' Peter rolls his eyes.

'But-'

'You ask him the same question one more time and I'm buying some duct tape and taping your mouth shut,' MJ warns him. 'How much longer are they going to be anyway?'

'I don't know. Depends how much he's fidgeting.'

'How do you know how long it takes to get measured for a suit?' Ned asks.

Peter shrugs. 'Tony had us all measured for the gala. Bucky fidgeted so much the guy taking the measurements nearly walked out; Steve had to talk Bucky into standing still for long enough and then he gave me the Captain look when I started fidgeting during my measuring so it didn't take quite so long. Bucky still grumbles about it now.'

'That's genuinely hilarious,' MJ laughs. 'The Winter Soldier sulks about having to be measured for a suit?'

'Thankfully this one isn't as bad as him,' Tony says as he rejoins them with Loki. 'And at least now he's not looking like he walked off the set of an early 1900s English drama.'

'I don't know,' MJ muses, 'I'd say he was going more for the undertaker look.'

'Is that worse?' Loki asks him.

Peter shrugs. 'Depends who you ask. Personally I didn't think it was _that_ bad, just needed something other than black.'

'I was attempting to blend in,' the god huffs.

'Did you follow Natasha's suggestions?' Peter asks Tony.

The inventor snorts. 'I think you mean instructions rather than suggestions. And I followed the half I agreed with.'

'What was wrong with the other half?'

'Actually they were pretty good too, but if I'd agreed with everything she'd have got suspicious.'

'Could have just said that Steve got you to follow them all,' he suggests as the group leaves the department store.

'Yeah but I don't want her knowing just how much he can actually change my mind, she has enough ammunition as it is,' Tony replies.

'I will admit to being a little intimidated by the Widow,' Loki chimes in, 'though I'd rather she didn't learn that bit of information.'

'Dude _everyone_ is intimidated by Black Widow. She's awesome but she's scary,' Ned adds.

'She's not _that_ scary,' Peter huffs. 'Pretty sure Wade isn't that scared of her either.'

'Oh no he is,' Tony laughs, 'her threat when we found out about you two was the only one he took seriously.'

'Well _I'm_ not intimidated by her,' he says.

'That's because you're her Baby Spider and have her wrapped around your little finger,' Tony laughs.

'Are you not in exactly the same position?' Loki challenges with a smirk.

'Shut up, like you can talk anyway.'

'Hey can we go get food soon? I'm starving,' MJ cuts across the argument and Peter wants to kiss her, but he's trying to keep from blushing in embarrassment thanks to the conversation.

'Sounds good. Let me check what's nearby and no,' Tony holds one finger up in Peter's direction without looking up from his phone, 'we are not getting Mexican.'

'I wasn't going to suggest we did,' he protests. Tony looks up at him with a raised eyebrow and he looks away. 'Well I wasn't going to insist we did anyway.'

'What is it with you and Mexican now anyway?' Ned asks. 'I swear you never ate it that much before.'

Peter tries to hide his renewed blush. 'It just started being what I grabbed on patrol because it was easier and I got a taste for it.'

'He means he eats it all the time with Wade and now he's ruined his taste buds for proper food,' Tony interjects.

'Still can't believe you're dating an insane mercenary,' MJ says. 'And how come Ned's met him and I haven't?'

'You mean aside from the fact I got distracted by being possessed by a murderous alien?'

'Fair point, I'll let you off. I'm meeting him next opportunity we get. No excuses.'

'_She's_ scarier than Natasha,' he mutters to Loki, who sniggers next to him.

'Alright there's a good place just around the corner,' Tony says, 'I just booked us a table. It's only a couple of minutes walk so for once I won't call the car.'

'You'd take the car for a walk a couple of minutes down the road?' Ned's eyes are bugging out of his head.

'Of course. Why walk when you can be driven to the front door?'

'And you say I have superiority issues,' Loki rolls his eyes.

The group sets off down the road, but some raised voices behind them has Peter turning to see what's happening. There's a group of four boys, by the looks of things a little older than him, standing around an older lady and, from what he can hear, they're trying to get her to give them money to get the bus home. And they aren't taking no for an answer. He's about to ask Tony if they should do anything when he catches sight of the woman and hears the voice. He knows that grey hair, sticking out in all directions as if she's stuck her finger in a plug socket, and he knows that heavily accented voice.

A now familiar feeling of anger pools in his belly, spreading out through his body as he turns and walks quickly towards the group, ignoring Tony and Ned's calls behind him.

'Hey,' he says, pushing his way forwards to stand in front of the old woman, 'she's not giving you any money guys, why don't you leave her alone?'

All of the boys are taller than him, and are heavier builds than him, so they're a little bit taken aback when they see him frowning up at them with his arms crossed over his chest. Then the tallest, and obviously the leader, lets out a bark of laughter. 'What you going to do about it pipsqueak?'

'Just leave her alone, and stop bothering people. You have legs, trying walking home,' he retorts.

'Oh we got a tough guy here boys,' the leader laughs and tries to push Peter back. But he doesn't even make him rock back on his heels. Confusion creeps over the boy's face and he tries to push him again, but again Peter doesn't move.

'I suggest you get out of here,' Tony's voice says from behind him.

'Shit, Iron Man,' he hears one of the others hiss and the four boys take off.

'Muchos gracias, young man,' Senora Valdez says, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

'De nada, Senora,' he replies, almost without thinking, as he turns to face her. The smile on her face has him realise what's he's just done.

'I hope I shall see you Monday?' she asks quietly, the same small smile on her face. 'I was worried about you, but your Captain came to tell me you had been caught up in something. I had to clip him round the ear for not looking out for you properly.'

The slight panic fades just as quickly as it arrived. Senora Valdez may have worked out who he was, but he knew he could trust this woman, and it wasn't like she knew his name. 'Take care of yourself, Senora,' he says as he nods in response to her question.

'And you, young man,' she pats his cheek. 'I always knew you'd have a kind face.' With a quick thank you to Tony she leaves them behind.

'Senora Valdez?' the man asks when they're alone.

Peter nods, blinking away tears at the woman's kind words. 'How did you know?'

'Steve told me about her,' he replies, placing an arm around his shoulders and steering him back towards the others. 'He went to speak to her and tell her what had happened once we got you back, said he knew you wouldn't want her thinking you'd forgotten about her. He said she thinks the world of you, and he's right.'

'I'm glad he did, she's a really special lady. I need to thank him when we get back, I didn't realise he'd done that.'

'Also made me pay for her groceries for a week and her cab fare so she doesn't have to walk while you're out of action.'

'He did? Why?'

'Because he said you'd want us to look after her,' Tony squeezes him a bit tighter then drops his arm as they reach the group. 'Because that's how special you are, kid. Never forget it.'

'I just want to keep trying to be like you,' he responds. Tony doesn't get chance to respond to that as they make their way to the restaurant, and he's glad that he's managed to get the last word for once.

* * *

'You're a Frost Giant and you've never had ice cream?' Peter looks at Loki over the top of the menu.

'Dude that's just screwed up,' Ned adds.

'For once I totally agree with these losers. How have you never had ice cream?' MJ asks.

'Don't look at me I agree with them,' Tony says as Loki looks to him with a raised eyebrow.

'Fine,' the god sighs. 'In which case I shall remedy this oversight. Would you be so kind as to select a flavour for me?'

'Why have one when you can have three?' MJ counters.

'Why do I get the feeling I would have been safer with the Widow?' Loki muses.

Tony laughs. 'Well Wanda did try and warn you.'

'I'm telling Wanda you hadn't had ice cream before when we get back,' Peter says, 'she won't believe me.'

'I feel as though this is being taken as worse than when I tried to take over your planet.'

'That's because it is!' the three teenagers respond in unison.

* * *

They climb out of the car as Tony pulls up at the facility, they've already dropped Ned and MJ back home, and Peter is more than ready to crawl into bed. They'd convinced Loki to dress in some of the clothes they'd bought when they were out so he's now sporting a pair of dark jeans and a green button down, as opposed to his all-black attire he'd been wearing when they left.

'I swear you put too much attention into your garb,' Loki huffs.

'Honestly you look so much better than before if you're still wanting to blend in,' Peter reassures him.

'Are you saying I looked terrible before?'

'No! I'm just saying you'll attract less attention like this than you would in what you were wearing earlier.'

'Hmm,' there's a half smile on Loki's face that Peter has learned means the trickster is teasing, 'perhaps I shall not inflict divine punishment on you this time then.'

'Alright children,' Tony rolls his eyes, 'let's get in shall we? Otherwise they'll be sending out a search party. And by a search party I mean Bucky's going to get twitchy at us being out too long and start finding a look out perch somewhere.'

'It's not like he's going to take us out with a sniper rifle,' Peter rolls his eyes, 'you make it sound so dramatic.'

'Hey now I don't think I'm the most dramatic person in this trio,' the inventor counters.

As they enter the front door the desk is empty but there are three Asgardians waiting in the lobby. When the day staff have gone home they have been given a lot more freedom to wander the facility, during the day they're still restricted to their living area inside but they've been given access to part of the grounds.

'Apologies for my absence today,' Loki says to them as they get closer, 'is all well? Do you require anything?'

'We do not need anything, Jotun,' one of the men spits at him, 'not from you. You may have convinced our king that you can be trusted, but we remember the times you have betrayed him and we will keep watching you. You may be trying to worm your way into the trust of your new companions, but will not be so blind.'

'Hey-' Peter shouts, but he's cut off by another voice.

'I think you need to remember the commands your _king_ gave you before he left,' Bucky's expression is dark as he comes down the stairs, 'and you should show your prince a little more respect. Especially if you do not want to have your access restricted again.'

'With all due respect, you do not know what he is capable of,' the same man responds, seemingly not intimidated by the Winter Soldier.

'I think you'll find we are,' Tony interrupts, 'seeing as we were the ones to help Thor capture him when he first came to Earth.'

'Besides,' Bucky continues, coming to stand in the man's personal space and staring down at him, 'I like to think that past actions do not wipe out what you do in the present. He's saved you a lot more recently than he has tried to hurt you, and has continued to respect your wish for space from him, so maybe you should try showing a little back if you want to continue staying in our home.'

There's tense silence for a few moments before the Asgardian breaks the staring contest first. He looks briefly at Loki. 'We look forwards to seeing you during your visit tomorrow, my prince.'

'As do I,' Loki's reply is soft. The Asgardian nods to his companions and the three of them retreat back towards their quarters.

'Feel better now you've done some Alpha male strutting?' Tony gripes at Bucky.

The dark haired man grins at him. 'I haven't intimidated anyone in ages, I was overdue.'

'I don't know how Steve puts up with you,' the genius sighs with a shake of the head and walks towards the stairs to go up to the Avenger's living quarters.

'I think the same thing about you,' Bucky laughs as he follows him, a wink in Loki's direction before he turns his back on the two of them.

'Come on,' Peter says quietly to the god, who is looking after the retreating men with an unreadable expression on his face. 'Otherwise they'll think we're plotting something.' Loki just nods and follows.

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone. I'm so sorry I'm late again this week, I ended up being out more of the weekend than I thought I was going to be and didn't have chance to update. Fridays are also pretty hectic for me now so it looks like I'll be more likely to update on Saturdays from now on just to warn you._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who is sticking with this story, and especially my wonderful reviewers! I'm sorry I haven't managed to respond to everyone yet but I'm hoping to do so today if I get chance. Please do leave reviews, I really do enjoy reading what you all think of where this story is going, both the good and the bad._

_I'm especially interested in what you think of this chapter. I must admit the scene with the ice cream has been one of my favourite to write and I have no idea why! Especially as it's so short!_

_Love always,_

_L x_

_As always here's your sneak peek (please don't kill me):_

Peter can't stop his body from turning and looking. Steve's body is over by the wall, a sickening dent in the wall above him where his body had obviously impacted before falling to a heap; there's blood matting his blond hair from the back of his head.

'No, please tell me I didn't.'

Venom hisses out another laugh. 'Want to sssee what you did to your preciouss boyfriend? Or what about Tony?'


	17. IronDad

**Chapter 16 – IronDad**

Peter turns, blackness surrounds him on every side, not even a small pinprick of light for him to see by; not even his heightened senses can make anything out in the darkness.

'Hello?' he calls out, though the sound is sucked in by whatever this blackness is. 'Hey anyone there?'

There's a horrible hissing laugh from behind him. Peter spins, but still can't make anything out.

'Who's there?'

'I'm alwayssss here, Peter,' Venom's voice hisses from what sounds like all around him.

'No,' he whimpers, 'please just leave me alone.'

'I can't. I'm alwaysss a part of you now. You'll never be rid of me.'

'Leave me alone! I won't let you hurt anyone.'

'You already did,' Venom hisses out another laugh and there's a spot of dim light ahead of him. Peter runs towards it, finding himself in the common area at the facility.

'Oh thank god!' he breathes. 'Hey guys! Anyone here? Where is every-'

'I told you,' Venom's hissing laugh sounds from all around him as he turns the corner and sees the bodies.

* * *

'Boss? Boss wake up.'

Tony groans as FRIDAY's urgent tones cut into his sleep. 'What the hell do you want, FRI? I'm actually sleeping for once.' He reaches for Steve's warm form beside him and buries himself into the solid body, the soldier shifting as the AI's voice pulls him from sleep as well.

'Tony? You alright?' Steve's voice is sluggish.

'Boss, Peter is having a nightmare and his vitals are getting high. I have tried to wake him but he won't wake up.'

Tony's suddenly wide awake. 'Alright I'm on my way.' He throws back the covers and climbs to his feet, pulling some jogging pants on and heading towards the door.

'You want me to come with you?' Steve asks, sitting up and looking worried.

Tony shakes his head. 'I'll get FRIDAY to tell you if I need you. I'm hoping that little trick Wanda did will work.'

* * *

Natasha's neck is at a horrible angle, her eyes wide and glassy and staring up at him, her hair is longer than he's seen it, and it looks like there's streaks of blonde in it; Bucky is half falling out of one of the chairs, a horrendous fist sized hole in his chest. Peter looks down at his hands and screams as he sees one of them covered in blood.

'What did you make me _do?_' he screams, spinning in circles, trying to see the Symbiote. That's when he catches sight of Wanda, and he starts sobbing. There's a hand shaped bruise around the girl's neck, her mouth has fallen open almost as if she was in the middle of saying something when she died. Vision's body is behind her, the normal bright colours now faded to horrible shades of dark grey and there's a hole in his head where the stone used to sit.

'What did you make me do?' he sobs, falling to his knees.

'Only what you were ssupposed to do, what your powerssss are ssupposed to do,' Venom taunts him. 'You were given ssuch wonderful giftss of dessstruction. Why don't you usssse them?'

'I do,' he sobs, 'I use them to _help_ people. Not to kill those closest to me. Where's the rest of the team? What have you done to them?'

'Take a look.'

* * *

Tony hurries along the corridor, guided by the light in his chest. Peter's room is only a couple of doors down the corridor but right now it feels like miles. He'd been worried earlier that the kid's nightmares would come back with Wade being away, it seems spending the previous night falling asleep watching movies with Wanda had kept them away then, but when he'd asked Peter if he wanted him to make up the bed in the lab the kid had shook his head and gone to his own room.

Now he's wishing he'd insisted.

He opens the door and closes it behind him, taking in the shuddering form huddling beneath the covers on the bed; the teenager is whimpering and crying out, though Tony can't make out any of the words. As he gets closer to the bed, Peter turns and he can see tears streaming down the boy's face.

'Oh kid,' he sits down on the bed and puts a gentle hand on the teen's shoulder. The body beneath his hand is burning hot and he starts to shake the teenager. 'Come on, Pete, wake up!'

Peter can't stop his body from turning and looking. Steve's body is over by the wall, a sickening dent in the wall above him where his body had obviously impacted before falling to a heap; there's blood matting his blond hair from the back of his head.

'No, please tell me I didn't.'

Venom hisses out another laugh. 'Want to sssee what you did to your preciouss boyfriend? Or what about Tony?'

'No!' he screams, closing his eyes and putting his hands over his ears. 'No I didn't do any of this. They're all alive. They're fine. There's no way I'd hurt them. I'd stop you, just like I did before.'

'Too damn right,' a voice says in front of him. Startled, Peter looks up into his mentor's face. Tony's wearing the Iron Man armour, and the face plate is pushed up. 'Come on kid, on your feet. It's just an illusion, it's something the Symbiote created to try and beat you. You know you couldn't hurt any of us. Now help me beat this bastard so we can get home alright?'

Feeling new strength in his limbs Peter takes a deep breath, setting his face and nods. 'Sure. Beat up the alien, then go home and have a movie night right? Just a normal day being an Avenger.'

'Just a normal day being an Avenger,' Tony smiles in agreement, holding out his hand for Peter. 'Come on, Spider-Man, on your feet.'

As Peter lets Tony pull him to his feet he looks down to see his suit has appeared on his body, and he's ready to go into a fight. Looking around he sees the team members, who only seconds ago had been lying lifeless, getting to their feet; their everyday clothes they'd been lying in replaced by their uniforms; hearing noise behind Tony he looks over his mentor's shoulder to see the rest of the team arriving.

'We'll follow your lead, Spider-Man,' Steve says, tightening his shield on his arm. 'Now let's go get the bad guy.'

* * *

'Peter! Come on, kid, wake up!' Tony has never been so grateful for someone waking up as when Peter shoots up to a sitting position in front of him. 'Deep breaths, kid, I'm here.'

'Tony?' his voice is small and fragile, but the tears seem to be drying on his face.

'Yeah, Pete, it's me.'

Peter throws himself into his arms, and it's all Tony can do to make sure they don't go flying off of the bed. He's not crying from what Tony can tell, but his body is shaking. 'I killed them all.'

'What are you talking about?'

'The team. Venom made me kill the team,' he repeats, pulling away slightly and looking to the side. He briefly recounts his nightmare to Tony. 'You turned up, just as Venom was about to show you dead.'

'Must have been when I was trying to wake you. Wanda managed to make it so that if you're having a nightmare and one of us is here then we'll turn up in your nightmare and help you fight it off.'

'You brought everyone back to life,' the kid's voice is quiet and thoughtful. 'You saved everyone then helped me fight Venom.'

'It was just an illusion, like you said,' Tony reassures him, not really sure how to respond to that statement. Peter just nods, fiddling with the covers in his lap. 'How you feeling?'

'Like crap,' he responds. 'Feel like I've run about fifty marathons.'

'Well you were thrashing about quite a bit when I turned up. Think you can move?'

Peter shakes his head. 'I think I'm just going to try and get back to sleep.'

'Not here you're not,' Tony huffs, standing up and picking up the very surprised teenager. 'You're going to come spend what's left of tonight in mine and Steve's room, otherwise I doubt you'll be getting any sleep at all.'

'Tony its fine, I'll just-'

'Shut up, kid. No arguments. FRI? Let Cap know we're on our way.'

'Sure thing, boss.'

'I don't think-'

'No you're not thinking. You're keeping quiet and you're going to actually get some sleep tonight. What do you think Wade's going to do to me if he gets back and you've barely slept? Hell what do you think _Nat's_ going to do to me tomorrow morning if she finds out?' Tony tries not to grin as Peter grumbles something inaudible into his shoulder, but finally stops arguing.

'I could have walked you know,' he huffs as they enter Tony and Steve's bedroom.

'You said yourself you couldn't move,' Tony rolls his eyes at Steve.

'But-'

'Just settle down, kid,' Steve laughs softly, pulling back the covers so Tony can put Peter down and then climb into bed himself. 'We promise not to tell anyone.'

'I feel like I'm five years old again,' Peter huffs, but doesn't seem to be as annoyed as before.

'Yeah well everyone secretly enjoys being looked after once in a while,' Steve chuckles, 'just roll with it. You know how stubborn Tony can get when he's mind is set on something.'

'Like you can talk,' Tony grumbles.

'I haven't done this since I first moved in with Ben and May after my parents died,' the teenager admits softly, not meeting either of their eyes as he lies down on the pillows.

'You just say if you need to come in again while Wade's way alright?' Tony tells him softly, settling down on Peter's left and smiling a little when the teenager turns and snuggles next to him.

As Steve settles down on the teen's right the boy breathes a deep sigh and seems to start rapidly dropping off. 'Thanks. Night, Dad,' he mutters sleepily.

Tony has to look up at Steve to make sure he heard correctly, and the small smile on the soldier's face is all the confirmation he needs. There's a strange emotion welling up in his chest as he blinks away a couple of tears, running his fingers through the soft brown hair of the boy between them. 'Night, Pete.'

Steve leans over the sleeping teenager to press a kiss to Tony's forehead before he settles back down and closes his eyes.

_I don't deserve either of them,_ Tony thinks as he looks in wonder between the two of them. _But I'll be damned if I let anything take either of them away from me._

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone! I'm not late this week! Miracles do happen apparently. Hope you all enjoy this chapter - I don't know why I'm making Peter such a cuddler in this story, I'm thinking it's come more from needing comfort after everything to be honest._

_Thank you so much to everyone who has left reviews on this story, and a huge thank you to everyone who is still reading this series! Please do let me know what you think about this chapter, we've only got the Epilogue to go for this story now, so if there is anything you'd like to see from future stories, even if it's just a small scene, then please do let me know._

_Love always,_

_L x_

_No sneak peek this week I'm afraid!_


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Tony pulls up the hood of his jacket and reaches for the door handle. 'Find somewhere discreet to sit and wait, Happy. I'll give you a call you when I'm heading back.'

'I still don't see why I can't come with you,' the man huffs, 'and what is so important in Hell's Kitchen of all places?'

'Still none of your business,' he replies as he opens the door, 'and I'll know if you follow me. I've been taking lessons from Nat.' He grabs the rucksack with the documents he needs and closes the car door, heading along the street and following FRIDAY's instructions. Soon he's climbing the stairs of the slightly dilapidated building and standing in front of the door he needs. There's still a few lights on which means they should be expecting him, even though it's way past opening hours.

Not that they know it's _him_ exactly. Yet.

Pushing open the door he tries not to raise an eyebrow at the state of the office. He may need to have a chat with Peter about his recommendations.

'Hello, how can I help you Mr- oh my god you're Tony Stark!' the blonde woman's eyes go wide. 'I'm sorry. It's just we were told to expect-'

'Carbonell was my mother's maiden name,' he explains, pushing the hood of his jacket back, 'but hardly anyone remembers so it's useful when I want to stay under the radar.'

'Of course,' she recovers well from her shock, and Tony can't help but be impressed, 'and let me apologise again. That was not the most professional of greetings.'

'I've had worse,' he reassures her with a grin as two men enter the room.

'Oh, we weren't expecting-'

The woman cuts across the blond man. 'Mr Stark this is Foggy Nelson,' she introduces them and Tony shakes his hand, 'and this is Matt Murdock.'

The man is blind but his handshake is deceptively strong. 'You got a strong handshake,' he notes as he releases the hand, 'and I'm used to super soldiers.'

'When kids think it's funny to steal your stick you get a pretty good grip,' the man responds with a wry smile.

'Uh huh,' Tony responds, not quite believing him. He's obviously been spending way too much time around Natasha and getting paranoid.

'How can we help, Mr Stark?' Foggy asks.

Tony unzips his backpack and pulls out one folder, handing it to him. 'Nick Fury wanted you to have these.'

'Information on the new Accords deal?' Matt asks.

'Yes, I had FRIDAY do recordings for you, Peter warned us you were blind. It's some of the information we've managed to decode from what we took from the HYDRA base, only what is going to be relevant for pushing forwards the new Accords of course.'

'Thank you,' he responds with a smile.

'There's something else I need your help with,' Tony says, pulling out another folder, 'of a more personal nature. My will.'

'Don't you have a whole legal team at Stark Industries to do that for you?' Foggy asks.

'I want this kept quiet,' he explains, 'for reasons that will become clear. And if someone wants to find this kind of information, they'll try and get one of those lawyers on side.'

'Information such as?' Matt asks.

'Is naming a teenager as heir to Stark Industries and Captain America as my partner good enough to start with?'

'Hang on what?' Foggy nearly shouts.

'You and Captain America?' Karen asks. 'When did that happen?'

'After I was kidnapped by HYDRA, and for obvious reasons,' he gestures towards the information he'd given them a few minutes ago, 'we've only really told the team and Miss Potts. So I'm expecting your discretion in this area.'

'And you'll have it,' Matt assures him. 'Am I to assume that Peter is the teenager you referred to?'

Tony can't help the small smile creeping onto his face, but tries to cover it by turning it into a smirk. 'What are you, a detective or something?'

Matt shrugs. 'Lucky guess.'

'Why don't you outline the basic plan for your will to us?' Foggy suggests. 'Then we can get it written up fully and prepared for you to sign.'

Tony nods. 'And you swear none of this will go any further?' He looks over at Karen. 'I'm sorry Miss Paige but I am aware of your contributions to a certain newspaper.'

'Nothing you say here with regards to your will is going to leave this office,' Matt assures him.

'In short? Pete gets my controlling shares of SI, he'll also get the majority of my fortune; Steve gets the next biggest share, along with the old family home on Long Island; Pepper Potts gets the next largest share of the fortune. The SI land that was given over for the Avengers facility is officially signed over for the team's use, and every member of the team gets a share of money.'

'You're being very generous towards your teammates, Mr Stark,' Karen comments as she makes notes.

'They're the only family I have,' he tells her, meeting her gaze when she looks up, 'if anything happens to me I want to make sure they're looked after.'

'Let's see what we can do to make sure that happens then,' Matt suggests.

* * *

_A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry it's so short but here's the epilogue, giving you a bit of a peek into the plans Tony has for Peter at least. Thank you so much for everyone who has stuck with this story and for all your lovely reviews!_

_So what's next I've had people ask? My plan is: through November I'm going to post the next instalment in this series which will be another special, as with the last one there'll be a couple of chapters posted each week rather than just one. Then in December I'll post the Christmas special, and resume back with this series in January. Hopefully that'll give me time to keep ahead of everything!_

_Thank you so much again to all of you and I hope you continue to enjoy the series!_

_Love always,_

_L x_


End file.
